We need to retune the economy to tackle youth unemployment

Suddenly, everyone’s talking about apprenticeships. Not just those supremely confident ones vying for a place in one of Lord Sugar’s businesses, although they are certainly racking up the column inches, but the much more important apprenticeships that will help to get young people back into work.

With the number of jobless 16 to 24 year olds hovering precariously around the politically sensitive one million mark, it’s perhaps not surprising to see both the government and the opposition setting out their stalls on the issue in recent weeks.

In the red corner, we have Labour, attempting to lead a cross-party rebellion forcing a £2bn bankers tax to fund back-to-work schemes for young people, while in the yellow and blue corner we have the coalition, who have promised a rather smaller £60m to get more vulnerable young people into work and boost apprenticeship schemes.

In total, the government has pledged to provide funding for up to 250,000 more apprenticeships over the next four years, and funding for 100,000 work placements over the next two years.

While I’m pleased they’re encouraging apprenticeships with such ambitious targets, there has been very little specific mention so far about green, modern apprenticeships – yet this is what is most needed if we are to re-tune our economy to meet the environmental needs before us.

‘If the last few years’ efforts in moving us towards a green economy have told us anything, they’ve told us that market correction is a tool we cannot ignore. After all, if it’s good
enough for the banks…’ With unemployment and reducing energy costs both high in the public consciousness, strengthening the link between economic development and the environment should be a no-brainer – and could be tackled by investing in youth employment schemes and in businesses to provide full time green jobs once those taking part complete their apprenticeships.

For Groundwork the answer to moving towards a viable low carbon economy lies in providing a stimulus for new jobs – it’s not about keeping existing workers in work or about generating more ‘old’ jobs – it’s not even about reskilling existing workers. Instead we need a catalyst which will enable us to provide new, green, valuable skills to people who are not working, so they don’t just get into work, they get into an area of skills that has a potentially booming future.

If the last few years’ efforts in moving us towards a green economy have told us anything, they’ve told us that market correction is a tool we cannot ignore. After all, if it’s good enough for the banks…

Let me give you an example. In Denmark – which holds a 50% share of the world wind turbine market – government support to that industry has been worth £1.3bn since 1993. This government investment drove an expansion in the wind turbine industry which now yields annual revenues of £2.7bn. It’s green, it’s sustainable, it provides a wealth of jobs.

Groundwork works with the voluntary and community sector, with businesses, with people to do Big Society stuff, and together we do make a real difference, but, if we want to lift the next generation out of the pit of low opportunity, there’s an economic argument here for sound and substantial investment in a green future.

Rather than waiting around for it to come to us, however, Groundwork is currently looking at how we can replicate this notion at a local level. Working with others in the same game, our vision is to create a national network of social enterprises to undertake vital but currently under-valued environmental work while creating new green jobs in communities. The network would become a vehicle for skills and apprenticeships that mobilised public and business support, and which gave a big boost to the green economy.

We’ll naturally need to raise the funds for this, in order to implement our own version of market correction – but since we believe the single most important thing we can do to help someone out of poverty is to help him or her find a job, then in order to be true to our mission we must focus on creating green jobs. And, from the perspective of those million jobless young people, we need to do it fast.