Our response to the Big Lottery’s Dormant Accounts Youth Fund consultation
03 May 2018
The Big Lottery Fund consulted on their Dormant Accounts Youth Fund and sought the views of young people and youth sector stakeholders by the 3rd of May 2018.
Our response
Our response comes from what we learned through Talent Match London, London Youth’s Big Lottery-funded employability programme.
We argue for employability programmes that see the wider needs of a young person and focus on sustained employment. Ideally, wider needs should be addressed through personalised support and individualised, trust-based relationships in places that young people choose to go to in their community. This support should extend beyond initial job placement and continue as a young person develops their career. Programmes should be designed locally and involve partnerships that include youth organisations and employers. Young people should have meaningful opportunities to gain paid or supported work experience in multiple industries.
We have published the findings from Talent Match London, particularly the experiences of those young people who are ‘hidden’ from the labour market and statutory support, in our report, Hidden in Plain Sight.
About the consultation
The Big Lottery Fund consulted on the form of its £90 million programme to help tackle the barriers to education, employment, and training that affect young people.
The programme aims to address the clear inequalities of opportunity for young people from different backgrounds or growing up in different parts of England, as highlighted by the Race Disparity Audit. The programme is informed by learning from Talent Match, which highlighted that young people are attracted to individual, holistic, and joined-up programmes that include one-to-one personalised support with dedicated coaches and a focus on aspirations and goals. Other key elements include:
- Personal circumstances such as health, access to transport and digital tools, and caring responsibilities
- Attitudes, emotional capability, and employability skills
- Qualifications, experience and tailored career management
- Strong links to employers to provide routes into work
A decision on the policy direction of the programme is expected in the summer of 2018. This will be followed by a second, more specific round of consultation.
