Dear Mr. Miliband,
Llamau works across Wales with young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness and vulnerable women. Llamau worked with more than 4,100 vulnerable people in 2012/13.
Llamau works with young people to support them through the difficult transition process from homelessness or insecure housing to a situation where they are able to live independently.
Llamau challenges some of the assumptions that the proposal, announced today, to replace Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) to a new “youth allowance” is based on and is asking for particular details about the proposed scheme that need to be clarified in order to understand and assess the impact on the young people that we work with.
A proposal that is predicated on a young person having support from their family
• The young people that Llamau works have come from backgrounds, where, for one reason or another, have found themselves homeless. Many of the people that we work with are care leavers, who are forced to begin to live independently at the age of 16, for example.
• Many of the young people that we work with simply do not have a family who they can return to in order to maintain financial support. There are number of extra hurdles that young homeless people have to deal with when accessing education and training, and the threat of financial support being removed will not ultimately deal with these deeper issues.
• They often will have interrupted educational experiences, which Llamau addresses through its “Learning for Life” programme, an informal educational environment which prepares young people for the world of work. This proactive approach has proven to get young people into the world of work.
• For the young people we work with, they need more than just education or training in order to access the labour market. The support, guidance and reassurance that any other young person would receive from a stable family environment when looking for work is missing in many of our young people’s lives.
A proposal based on the myth that young people aren’t working because it is easier to claim benefits.
• Mr Miliband makes a point when he argues that the workforce should be better trained in order to access work. Llamau agrees that when people are able to access the best quality training they are in a better position to find work.
• However it is clear that this proposal is based on a political reaction to a belief that young people are “playing the system” in order to not to be economically active. Mr Miliband should reject this belief and understand the complex reality of life for many of our young people. There are a number of barriers that the young people who access our services continue to face, even when receiving help from us.
• The Welsh labour market has historically been and remains depressed compared to the rest of the UK. While there has been some growth in labour market participation over the past 12 months, it is in jobs that are part-time, self-employed and/or zero-hour contracts. These are insecure, unstable and leave people unable to plan financially for their future. The reality is that there are simply not enough good, well-paying jobs that will allow all young people to make the transition from education to work in Wales. For the young people we work with it is especially hard to make this transition. The Labour Party’s focus should be on working with the Welsh Government and creating sustainable economic growth.
What will be the process from changing from JSA to the proposed “youth allowance?”
• JSA is currently part of the range of benefits that would support a typical 18-year-old that accesses our services. While they would support themselves financially through a range of state support, JSA forms an important part of this support and any change has the potential to be devastatingly destabilising to some of the most vulnerable members of society. It will simply increase the burden of support to the third sector, which is already experiencing unprecedented pressure on its finances.
• Many of the young people that access our services have fallen through the social safety net that exists and which is supposed to help our children and young people thrive. Our ethos is based on “not giving up” on the young people we work with, when many other agencies and organisations may have done so. Many of them will have fallen out of mainstream, formal education and their achievement levels of basic skills will be low. We need clarification on the education standards of training that would be required to access this youth allowance
.
We need a more joined-up approach between the Department for Skills and Education in the Welsh Government and the UK Department for Work and Pensions to reduce youth unemployment
• The provision of education and skills in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. It has its own agenda to tackle youth unemployment through skills training and it has worked closely with Llamau in order to offer initiatives such as Symud Ymlaen / Moving Forward.
• There has been a longstanding problem of different agendas and approaches taken by Welsh Government and Central Government. While there is the potential for a reduction in tensions if a Labour government were to be elected into Westminster in 2015, there have been issues in the past with Labour administrations in both Westminster and Cardiff Bay. There must be joint approach which involves all stakeholders involved as early as possible to make sure that funding is appropriate, available and flexible enough for individual’s needs.
Our alternative approach
Llamau advocates for an approach which is flexible for each individual that we work with. We work with some of the most disadvantaged young people in our society, some who have been failed by the care system, some who have been failed by the education system and some who have been failed by the criminal justice system.
Young people need to be encouraged and nurtured in order to thrive in our society. They deserve nothing less, and as a society, we often fall short in our obligation to them. In an environment of increasing cuts to benefits, and a rise in the number of people accessing food banks, this proposal would place yet another burden on a group of people who are worst placed to shoulder it.
We work with some young people who have significant challenges with their mental health, they may have substance abuse issues, addictions, they may have a history of offending. However difficult it may become, we do not give up on them. Instead of punishing our young people simply for coming from a difficult background, we must be more aware of the difficulties that they face and be more responsive to their needs in our approach to public policy.
Our Symud Ymlaen / Moving Forward Project, funded through a Welsh Government initiative to use dormant bank accounts and administered by the Big Lottery Fund, works with employers to provide placement opportunities for young people involved with the criminal justice system and those leaving the care system. It has been significantly over-subscribed, reflecting the need for greater investment in this programme and others like it. It is a programme that has allowed young people to begin to realise their potential and to make a positive difference to their lives.
An invitation
Llamau extends an open invitation to Ed Miliband MP to visit any of our projects in Wales to understand the difficulties, challenges and experiences of young homeless people and vulnerable women in the United Kingdom today.
Yours faithfully,
Frances Beecher,
Chief Executive, Llamau
