Britain: Neet bright spots revealed

Certain cities in England show the way in reducing youth unemployment, and raising training and education levels for the young.

In typical negative fashion, the BBC reported a quarterly rise in NEET levels stating "The proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds in England not in employment, education or training (Neet) has risen to 18.4%, official figures suggest."

Separately, a BBC map indicating "blackspots" in Britain where 16-24 year old are disengaged, underlined the challenge. Yet it also showed that certain cities enjoy VERY LOW Neet problems, with various cities and towns enjoying surprising success in this area. Those with less than 10% Neet levels were:

Aberdeen

Cambridge

Oxford

Plymouth, Devon

York.

Surely, while focussing on blackspots like Grimsby in Lincolnshire, Doncaster in South Yorkshire, Warrington in Cheshire and Wigan in Greater Manchester where nearly a quarter of youngsters fall into the Neet catagory, a counterbalancing analysis of those cities demonstrating success might assist critics at the Work Foundation to better advise on how to remedy the issue. A difficult jobs market and "cuts to youth services and education" have been blamed. Yet don't those challenges face the young people of Plymouth, Aberdeen and York too?

Dynamic cities engage and encourage talent to develop. Dying or stagnating communities breed despondency and an increase in their underclass. 

Yet as the youths of the Compton Cricket Club in a deprived district of Los Angeles have proved, ambition can thrive and talent can sparkle even when surrounded by crime and poverty.

There are ways to engage, it seems to me. A bit of imagination is required sometimes.

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