Plans for £5m scheme to tackle youth unemployment

A county will get a share of a £45m scheme to match young people with jobs or training opportunities.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has been awarded £5m to introduce a "youth guarantee".

The government promised in last year's Get Britain Working White Paper that every 18 to 21-year-old in England would get access to education, training, or help to find a job or an apprenticeship.

A report being presented to the combined authority on Monday said: "The youth guarantee trailblazer is making significant progress."

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough was chosen as one of eight regions across the country to take part in a pilot of the youth guarantee.

There were 3,250 people aged between 18 and 24 claiming unemployment-related benefits in the county in April, according to the House of Commons library, a 13% increase on the previous year.

Proposals submitted by the combined authority, which brings together the mayor and local councils, have since been approved by the government.

The work in Cambridgeshire will focus on ing those young people most at risk of falling out of education or employment.

Young people will be involved in the advertising and marketing of the youth guarantee.

The scheme will also try to find the best groups and organisations to young people and work with other resources such as Job Centre Plus and Youth Employment UK.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said in May that the plan would be a "game changer" for young people.

"Every young person deserves the best life chances – and we won't stop until everyone has a level playing field to succeed," she said.

Liverpool is another region signed up as a "trailblazer" area, and there were plans to set up a of young people to help make decisions on the guarantee.

Across England, some 923,000 young people were not in education, employment or training in January to March 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The scheme will run until 31 March 2026.

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