“Congratulations, Graduates!” by Caro Wallis used under Creative Commons 2.0/ Cropped from Original

The recently approved £50 million Youth Employment Initiative project has been brought up jointly by Birmingham and Solihull Councils.

The Youth Promise Plus, funded by the European Social Fund through the Department for Work and Pensions, targets young people who find it hardest to get into work or training. £33.6m will come from the EU funds with the remaining from a package of Birmingham City Council and other local matched expenditure from a range of partners including Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

The project will address the issues of fragmentation and silo working identified in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP ESIF Strategy by bringing together sub-regional partners to create an entirely new system of employment and skills support.

It will intensively support 16,610 young people, including those most disadvantaged, to remove personal barriers, enabling access to training and jobs. Creating an employer and vacancy-led approach to employment and skills provision it responds to the needs of disadvantaged young people in the jobs market while putting a ‘Work First’ ethos into operation and incorporating best local and national practice. Success is created through a seamless employment support system integrating personalised support at key transition points, ensuring successful progression into working life.

The Project will be delivered through refocused existing and newly commissioned activity via a network of strategic/operational public, private and voluntary sector delivery partners engaging local agencies and businesses within the area. Delivery Partners include Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, University Hospital Birmingham Consortium, The Prince’s Trust and CENTRO. Additional commissioning will be undertaken in accordance with a plan agreed through the project’s governance arrangements.