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Phillip Inman<\/p>\n
Elsewhere this morning, Labour has adopted regulations intended to prevent local councils from going bust after they make risky investments that jeopardise their finances.<\/p>\n
Ministers will be handed powers to intervene that have been dormant since 2003, the ministry of housing, communities and local government (MHCLG) said.<\/p>\n
Several councils have been forced to take government loans after investments turned sour and they ran out of funds.<\/p>\n
Woking in Surrey accumulated \u00a32bn of debts following a revamp of the town centre while Thurrock in Essex ran up debts of \u00a31.5bn after a series of investments largely in solar farms.<\/p>\n
Councils were given more autonomy to make large investments in 2015 by former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, in part to offset a freeze on council tax bills.<\/p>\n
There have been calls for the Labour government to reinstate the Audit Commission, a watchdog that audited the sector\u2019s finances until the function was outsourced to the private sector in 2012.<\/p>\n
Local government minister Alison McGovern said the new rules would be sufficient to prevent a repeat of the worst cases, saying:<\/p>\n
double quotation mark\u201cIn Woking, Thurrock, and other councils we\u2019ve seen poor investment decisions leaving taxpayers footing a big bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to wait until a council is on the brink of collapse to act. That\u2019s why we want to bring in new powers so we can identify the risks and act before its too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government is consulting on introducing Capital Risk Metrics, which create a statutory framework allowing ministers to intervene \u201cin exceptional cases where a local authority\u2019s borrowing or investment activity is leading to excessive financial risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The legislation allows the government to issue \u201crisk-mitigation\u201d directions to an individual authority when it is at the point of becoming financially unsustainable, or breaches a risk threshold.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>Work and Pensions Committee chair: Neets crisis is not due to \u2018snowflake\u2019 generation<\/p>\n Work and Pensions Committee chair Debbie Abrahams MP has responded to the publication of Alan Milburn\u2019s interim findings from his review on youth inactivity and unemployment in the UK.<\/p>\n Abrahams says:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cMany of Alan Milburn\u2019s findings reflect the evidence received in our own inquiry on Youth Employment, Education and Training. We await Mr Milburn\u2019s conclusions and recommendations, but when giving evidence to the Select Committee, he referred to the causes of the current youth employment crisis being as broad as they are deep. It\u2019s clear that whatever his recommendations, it will require systemic change, needing a whole government approach to fix this.<\/p>\n \u201cWe agree that this is not the so-called \u2018snowflake\u2019 generation that too many have referred to. But the urgency must be recognised. We cannot see the lives of so many young people be blighted in this way.<\/p>\n \u201cThe young people my committee has spoken to as part of our inquiry have shown a real desire to work, to succeed. But too often they have experienced barriers that aren\u2019t properly understood by the DWP. Having the right support in place to enable these young people to thrive will be essential.<\/p>\n \u201cReforming the social security system that recognises these barriers and provides the support that is needed is essential. We\u2019re concerned by the signals sent in the latest supplementary estimates that include an apparent \u00a378m cut to Connect to Work, designed to reduce barriers for disabled people, including young disabled people, who want to get into work. Our research also shows that every extra pound spent on employment support will pay for itself 6 times over and give people their independence.<\/p>\n However, we\u2019d urge against unhelpful comparisons between money spent on benefits and that on employment support. It introduces the notion that merely shifting financial support from one to the other will solve the problem. Without careful navigation this could potentially undermine youth employability by driving up child poverty or exacerbating underlying health conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must not allow people\u2019s futures to be determined by anything other than their talent.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Vape shops but no jobs: one young man\u2019s search for work in Grimsby<\/p>\n This video, from my Guardian colleagues, shows how the Neets crisis is playing out in Grimsby, where 19-year old Cohen is desperate to find a permanent job while running a mascot hire company and chasing his dream of becoming a professional wrestler:<\/p>\n For the past year, Cohen, who has a learning disability, has been applying for roles in holiday parks, retail, charity shops and even the local football club Grimsby Town FC, which was recruiting for a new mascot.<\/p>\n He is volunteering at a local Scope charity shop once or twice a week and is starting a placement through college working at Morrisons. He has yet to find paid work, though not for want of trying.<\/p>\n Cohen says:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cRetail was a big thing for a lot of people [here in Grimsby] at one point.<\/p>\n But a lot of its closing down now. It\u2019s now made up of vape shops and barbers and not ones where you can get a job.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.02 EDT<\/p>\n Employers\u2019 biggest complaint about young people is their \u2018work readiness\u2019, Milburn continues, emphasising the importance of work experience.<\/p>\n He tells Radio 4:<\/p>\n double quotation markJust a few days ago, we were talking to Marks and Spencers, to John Lewis, to all of these employers. And the biggest complaint that people have is about what work readiness.<\/p>\n They know that the young people have got qualifications. What they worry more about is whether schools have gifted them the attributes that are needed for the workplace. And that is all about communication, collaboration, agility, adaptability, skills.<\/p>\n We do badly internationally when it comes to work experience. We\u2019ve got to change it.<\/p>\n Milburn is due to release recommendations to fix the Neets crisis in the autumn. That could potentially include compulsary work experience for young people, as the boss of Amazon UK called for this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn: UK’s ‘chronic’ Neets problem is worse than other countries<\/p>\n Q: Is the Neets problem worse in the UK than in other countries?<\/p>\n Yes it is, Alan Milburn replies.<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Neets rate is three times as high as in Holland, and twice as high as Ireland, he says. Britain has moved down the international league table in recent times.<\/p>\n He calls it a \u201cchronic problem\u201d that is getting worse not better, with no plan to deal with it.<\/p>\n Young people are caught in a \u201cperfect storm\u201d, he continues, where the first rung on the career ladder is further out of reach for them.<\/p>\n The number of jobs in low and medium-skilled occupations have declined by over a million over the last 20 years. Apprenticeship starts are down by about a third in the last ten years, and the Saturday job has disappeared, Milburn points out.<\/p>\n That\u2019s compounded by a welfare system created to deal with \u201cyesterday\u2019s problem\u201d of cyclical youth unemployment. Today, the challenge is \u201cyouth detachment\u201d, he adds.<\/p>\n As Milburn puts it:<\/p>\n double quotation markPeople always talk about welfare and they\u2019re right to do so. But this is a problem in the labour market, in the welfare system, in the school system, in the skills system and in the health system.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not reforms that you need. It\u2019s a radical reset.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn: the silence kills hopes for Neets<\/p>\n Alan Milburn is discussing his new report into the Neet crisis now, on Radio 4\u2019s Today Programme.<\/p>\n Milburn emphasisis that the UK risks a \u201clost generation\u201d of young people out of work, training or education, with many being rebuffed when they apply for work, or never even hear back.<\/p>\n Milburn says:<\/p>\n double quotation markIt\u2019s the silence that kills, it dents confidence. But more importantly, it kills hope.<\/p>\n He adds that 84% of the Neets his team surveyed actually want to be in work or training :<\/p>\n double quotation markThere\u2019s no shortage of effort on their part. Now the shortage is of opportunity and of support.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.24 EDT<\/p>\n New data from Zoopla this morning highlights the affortability challenges facing first-time buyers, showing:<\/p>\n First-time buyers are targeting homes worth \u00a310,000 more than a year ago, with average prices up 4.3% to \u00a3254,750 \u2014 nearly 3x the rate of UK house price growth<\/p>\n There are 6% fewer first time buyers in the market than this time last year.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Milburn correct to reject \u201clazy tropes\u201d around youth unemployment<\/p>\n Economists have been welcoming Alan Milburn\u2019s report into the UK\u2019s Neets crisis, even before its official launch later today.<\/p>\n George Bangham, head of social policy at the New Economics<\/a> Foundation (NEF), has said Milburn is correct to reject the \u201clazy tropes\u201d about this problem somehow being young people\u2019s own responsibility, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cMost young people want to work, but too few jobs are available to them in many local areas, as NEF research has shown. Job vacancies are at their lowest level in 12 years, outside of the pandemic lockdowns \u2013 and young people are struggling more than others to land the few jobs available.<\/p>\n The Resolution Foundation thinktank says Milburn is correct to identify \u201crising ill health, limited vocational education, a hands-off benefits system, and a weak labour market\u201d as key drivers of the UK\u2019s NEET rate.<\/p>\n Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation said:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cIt is encouraging to see how strongly the Milburn Review\u2019s interim report recognises the gravity of the UK\u2019s Neets crisis. Our ambition should be that the UK becomes one of Europe\u2019s lowest Neet countries rather than one of its highest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report has grasped the key drivers of the UK\u2019s high Neet rate, and the steps needed to tackle these: more engaged employment support, early intervention on mental health, and a greater focus on further education.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there are real fiscal and structural challenges ahead. There is no single system currently in place to solve this crisis, so the Government will need to develop a new approach that spans government departments as well as regional and local authorities, plus find the funding to truly turn the Neets crisis around.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>First-time buyers facing toughest challenge since financial crisis<\/p>\n UK home ownership is increasingly out of reach for young people, David Thomas, the outgoing chief executive of Barratt Redrow is warning today.<\/p>\n In an interview with the BBC<\/a>, Thomas says that now is one of the most difficult times to get on to the housing ladder, comparable only with the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008.<\/p>\n Thomas blamed rising interest rates, student loan deductions and the squeeze on real wages for making it harder to buy a new home in 2026, saying:<\/p>\n double quotation markCertainly it\u2019s going to be close to where we were [after] the great financial crisis.<\/p>\n That was probably more to do with lending, but I think it\u2019s very, very comparable for first-time buyers. We\u2019re now facing challenges around affordability with no government support scheme in place.<\/p>\n![\"Vape](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779956950_366_1920.jpg\")
Vape shops but no jobs: one young man\u2019s search for work in Grimsby<\/p>\n