Event Details

Join Centre for Cities and the Work Foundation for a discussion on how Metro Mayors can tackle youth economic inactivity, featuring a keynote address from Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire.

More than one million young people across the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET). And youth economic inactivity is concentrated in urban areas: three quarters of the local authorities with the highest NEET risk are in cities in the North and Midlands.

As highlighted in this year’s Milburn Review, the consequences are significant, not only for the life chances of those young people, but also for economic growth, labour supply and productivity. As the Burnham Government seeks to raise living standards ‘in every postcode’, reducing youth economic inactivity will be a key policy priority. Metro mayors have an important role to play: the Review makes a ‘strong case for local leadership to address the NEET crisis’.

This joint event from Work Foundation and Centre for Cities will explore how mayoral strategic authorities can tackle the NEET challenge, featuring a keynote address from Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire. The discussion will focus on a question often overlooked in debates about youth employment: how can cities create more and better opportunities for young people, particularly in places where weaker labour markets struggle to provide secure, well-paid jobs and opportunities for progression? Alongside education, skills and employment support, the event will examine how regeneration, investment, industrial strategy and employer engagement can help strengthen local labour markets and expand opportunities for young workers.

Oliver Coppard will open the event by setting out how South Yorkshire is responding to the challenge of youth economic inactivity. He will be joined by a panel discussion drawing on practical examples from across England and beyond, the evidence behind them, and the lessons they offer for other places.

Confirmed speakers

• Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire — Keynote
• Alice Martin, Head of Research, Work Foundation at Lancaster University
• Elaine Bowker, Principal & Chief Executive, The City of Liverpool College
• Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, Centre for Cities (chair).