Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with local authorities on tackling youth unemployment in Great Yarmouth constituency.

Our plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work in their local area. This will sit alongside; a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, and work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, to open new opportunities for young people. We will set out further detail in the upcoming Labour Market White Paper.

The department recognises that the needs of young people will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances. The broad national reach of Jobcentres and its network of Partnership Managers means the Department for Work and Pensions is in regular contact with local stakeholders including working closely with Local Authorities.

This joint working approach is at the core of the Department for Work and Pensions Youth Offer. A recent example of collaboration in Great Yarmouth includes a multi-agency Great Yarmouth Skills Taskforce involving the Jobcentre and stakeholders from Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, East Coast College and the Universities of East Anglia and Suffolk in tandem with training providers such as Access Community Enterprises, business and community organisations. The immediate focus is on youth to support to entry and progression in the labour market.