Leeds City Region is European leader in tackling youth unemployment

The Leeds City Region was hailed as a leading area in Europe in tackling youth unemployment at a European knowledge exchange conference last week.

The URBACT programme brings together cities from across Europe to exchange good practice on how cities and city regions are addressing the number of young people that are not in employment, education or training (NEET).

The Leeds City Region is the only UK city region that was invited to feature as a case study at the event due to its success in reducing youth unemployment, which has fallen by 60% in the last twelve months.

A number of the LEP’s programmes designed to create a NEET-free City Region were highlighted as specific examples of good practice. The LEP’s Devolved Youth Contract continues to outperform the national youth contract and has created opportunities for over 2,000 young people to participate in employment, education and training.

The LEP’s Headstart programme, a project that works with employers and young people to support young people aged 18-24 who are long-term unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance into gainful employment, has supported over 840 young people into employment.

The LEP’s apprenticeship programme, which has to date supported over 2,500 businesses to offer an apprenticeship and has helped nearly 2,000 young people into an apprenticeship role, was also highlighted as an example of a successful initiative that creates and sustains employment.

You can find out more about the LEP’s work on the skills and employment agenda by clicking here.

Take a look at the URBACT Leeds City Region video case study below, or visit http://urbact.eu/ to find out more about the URBACT programme.

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