Wakefield Council Leader calls for fair share of £2bn funding to tackle youth unemployment.

Councillor Denise Jeffery is calling on the Government to ensure West Yorkshire does not miss out after The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced a scheme to kick start new jobs for young people.

He promised funding for every region of Britain and promised to pay employers to create jobs for 16 – 24-year-olds who are otherwise at risk of unemployment.

Coun Jeffery said: “I welcome additional funding to make a difference to the lives of young people – but this does not go far enough."

She added that the North has been hard hit by ten years of Government austerity with its young people disproportionately affected by the impact of the global pandemic in terms of unemployment.

Coun Jeffery said: "Our region has been affected by years of under-funding, and we and our partners have risen to the challenge - encouraging employers to create apprenticeships and opportunities for young people to develop skills, training and education.

"We can use the funding to improve employment pathways for young people in the council, by creating public sector jobs and also in the private sector, given our strong local partnerships.

"We could also use it to provide a specific youth employment programme as part of our successful Step Up scheme.

“We need the Government to show leadership and to demonstrate that it will provide long term and imaginative solutions to give young people in West Yorkshire the opportunities they deserve and long term support for employers to invest in and develop the workforce of the future and to support our region’s long term economic recovery.”