Asked by: Stephen Pound (Labour - Ealing North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding is available for learners formerly on the Youth Contract after the closure of that programme on 31 March 2016.
Answered by Nick Boles
The Education Funding Agency (EFA) managed Youth Contract for 16 and 17 year olds which ended on 31 March 2016, was introduced as a time-bound programme to help reduce the proportion of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). It offered targeted extra support to help young people re-engage in education and training.
In addition to the duty on local authorities to support young people, pathfinders to test Jobcentre Plus support for young people in schools have started and will be rolled out across England by March 2017. Improvements to careers education and guidance are underway with £90m to be invested over this Parliament – including £20m to increase the number of mentors to support those young people who need it most. Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund projects are underway to help improve the prospects of 9,600 young people and an additional £105m was announced in the spending review to scale up Social Impact Bonds over the Parliament, to help deal with issues including youth unemployment.
Local authorities continue to work with the Voluntary and Community Sector and local businesses to support young people and other support is available via European Social Fund provision and support for vulnerable groups such as care leavers. As part of the Government’s forthcoming life chances strategy, the Troubled Families Programme and National Citizenship Scheme will be expanded, both of which include support for young people.