[cl_steele]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18916683

The government is paying a company to wake teenagers up in an effort to get them back to work, under a new scheme.

The firm, in the north-east of England, said it was "just one small part of the mentoring approach we have got".

And young people were also driven to interviews and helped to get into the habit of "turning up on time" to jobs.

Nick Clegg's £126m Youth Contract aims to cut the number of England's "Neets" - 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training.

The deputy prime minister has encouraged the firms chosen to deliver the scheme to be "creative" in their approach to getting poorly-qualified and often troubled youngsters into the workforce.
Continue reading the main story
Percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds who are Neet in England

South East: 8,740 (4.8%)
London: 5,660 (3.6%)
East of England: 6,590 (4.9%)
South West: 5,390 (4.7%)
West Midlands: 6,460 (5.0%)
East Midlands: 4,800 (4.5%)
Yorkshire and the Humber: 7,110 (6.1%)
North West: 9,810 (5.8%)
North East: 4,340 (6.9%)

Pertemps People Development Group, a national training organisation awarded a Youth Contract in the north-east said it had found wake-up calls a useful way "to help young people develop a routine".
'Personal relationship'

Marketing director Paul King said youngsters who didn't have stable families and had dropped out of school "appreciated the fact that that there is someone there who cares for them".

Mentors were encouraged to "build up a personal relationship with these people" and would also drive them to interviews or jobs and instil in them "the importance of turning up on time".

Mr King said lateness was one of the most common reasons for young people being sacked - and ex-offenders were often better organised and more punctual than some of the Neets his organisation was trying to help.

Charities and businesses selected to help the 55,000 Neet youngsters return to college or find jobs will be paid by results.

Another company, in Yorkshire, will use ex-soldiers to deliver motivational sessions to disaffected young people through the Heroes to Inspire campaign.

The organisations get up to £2,200 for every young person helped, but the full amount will only be paid if the youngster is still in full-time education, training or work six months later.

Mr Clegg, who in 2011 vowed to stand up for "alarm clock" Britain - basic-rate taxpayers who get up in the dark to get ready for work - said the firms selected to deliver the scheme should "be as creative and innovative as they can".

Almost one in five young people aged between 16 and 24 are classified as Neet - with the most recent figure standing at 1,163,000.

The three-year programme will focus on 16 to 17-year-old Neets with no A*-to-C GCSEs who are at the highest risk of long-term disengagement.

Mr Clegg's scheme came in for heavy criticism from Labour when it was launched, with shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne saying it would not help 95% of young unemployed people.

Labour called the scheme "too small and much too late" and unions said it would not make up for cuts in other areas.

Chris Keates, leader of the Nasuwt teachers' union, has accused Mr Clegg of being responsible for an increase in Neets by scrapping the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Remind me again, in a time of austerity, public sector cuts and rising taxes why the tax payer should fork over £126,000,000,00 to get those to lazy to work up and out of ****ing bed? disgraceful, this money could be far better suited being funnelled intpo a meaningful project. Well thats my opinion anyway what about y'all?

[cid]

This ... this is why humanity will never reach its full potential.

[Ham22]

How are they planning to get these people into work? I'd bet a lot of 16 and 17 year old 'neets' are not even on the dole, and are living off their parents. Are they planning to go into people's houses and physically remove them?

[cl_steele]

(Original post by Ham22)
How are they planning to get these people into work? I'd bet a lot of 16 and 17 year old 'neets' are not even on the dole, and are living off their parents. Are they planning to go into people's houses and physically remove them?

Apparently that worked up in hertfordshire [at least im pretty sure it was there] when they got the police to come and cart truant kids off to school

[cyfer]

This scheme is a bloody joke. I don't know who to despise more. The pitiless fools that resign themselves to benefits, or the ministers that live under the delusion that these fools have spark.

[alexmagpie]

Nick Clegg should be made to do this personally

[Foghorn Leghorn]

(Original post by cl_steele)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18916683


Remind me again, in a time of austerity, public sector cuts and rising taxes why the tax payer should fork over £126,000,000,00 to get those to lazy to work up and out of ****ing bed? disgraceful, this money could be far better suited being funnelled intpo a meaningful project. Well thats my opinion anyway what about y'all?

Pretty sure it's supposed to be an economic investment, the more people that work, the more money the govt gets in revenue, the easier it is to pay back uk debt. Simple multiplier economics.


Whether this specific scheme will work is anyones guess, but that fact of the matter is jobless people on benefits need to start working one way or another.

[ROYP]

Sounds pretty funny. Each wake-up should be televised and it could be a recurring live feature on BBC Breakfast or something

[Joinedup]

Probably going to be a bit of a fiasco tbh... Just thinking of the fraud that was going on at A4E.
Hiring a private firm to do something for the sake of saying you're doing something.

[Martyn*]

We keep throwing money at problems, don't we?

[justn1c2]

Wait so 2010, Nick Clegg promises to cut tuition fees for students at university. Soon after that the tuition fees triple! and now hes throwing millions of pounds to the people that don't care about there education/jobs??

Sigh....

[rmpr97]

Question: Why won't Nick Clegg ever become Primeminister, Answer: 'Nick Clegg's £126million scheme will pay firm to wake jobless teens'

[wildrover]

Whats the point when there isn't any jobs anyway.

[Alpharius]

First off there are no jobs to get up and apply for

Second, if there are jobs, and they're snoozing, they're losing. Let the people who get up and look for jobs have the advantage.

The fact that the government think people need to be woken up to get jobs is depressing. Humanity will never reach its full potential.

[OU Student]

(Original post by Ham22)
How are they planning to get these people into work? I'd bet a lot of 16 and 17 year old 'neets' are not even on the dole, and are living off their parents. Are they planning to go into people's houses and physically remove them?

Most 16 and 17 year olds aren't entitled to JSA.

Not all jobs are 9-5. Does that mean they'll be waking people up at really silly times like 4am?

[Ham22]

(Original post by OU Student)
Most 16 and 17 year olds aren't entitled to JSA.

Not all jobs are 9-5. Does that mean they'll be waking people up at really silly times like 4am?

I see. Then I just don't see how they think they have the right to barge in to people's homes and remove them from them, when they aren't involved in a government scheme, where it may be mandatory to comply with things like this to continue receiving benefits.

Also, +1 for, And Where Are The Jobs?

[SnoochToTheBooch]

this is absurd. Are there even jobs available for them to get out of bed for?

[Annie72]

Arent kids aged 16, 17 and 18 still in full time education?.I thought the school leaving age had been raised to 18 now.

[jacketpotato]

(Original post by cl_steele)
Remind me again, in a time of austerity, public sector cuts and rising taxes why the tax payer should fork over £126,000,000,00

Mostly because you were too lazy to read past the misleading headline.

If you had read past the second line, you would know that this is a scheme where charities will be paid £2,200 if they get a NEET into work, education or training for six months. Seems a good use of money to me.

[james22]

I don't think this is a bad idea. I have no idea if it will do anything but it sounds interesting and could work, it could fail but I will be waiting to see the results after a year. If it gets more people in work, education or training them I am all for it.