Everybody should have the chance to work or retrain, to help increase their aspirations and skills to realise their potential. The labour market has changed significantly in recent years and continues to adapt, so people need joined up local support.
Responding to the launch of a new government careers advice programme for children and young people, including for primary school pupils and those in years 8 to 13, Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s People and Places Board, said:
“Everybody should have the chance to work or retrain, to help increase their aspirations and skills to realise their potential.
“The labour market has changed significantly in recent years and continues to adapt, so people need joined up local support including training and careers advice to go into long-term, sustainable employment.
“It is councils who are ideally placed to help achieve this. This will require a radical overhaul of our careers advice, which gives councils the funding and powers to use their local leadership and expert knowledge of their areas to coordinate the right support, that can best introduce children and young people to the jobs of the future.”
Notes to Editors
The LGA’s Work Local is a blueprint for moving towards an integrated and devolved employment and skills service for all places. It will give democratically elected local leaders the power and funding to work with partners to join up careers advice, employment, skills, apprenticeships, and business support provision for their areas, with local and national accountability for outcomes. A cost benefit analysis of the LGA’s Work Local reveals that it has the potential to increase by 15 per cent the number of people improving their skills or finding work by using existing national investment more effectively.