Consultation on financial support for young learners

Treasury Minister Dawn Primarolo today consulted a group of young people on the design of a new simplified system of financial support to help them stay in education or training.

The consultation forms part of the Government’s review of financial support for 16-19 year olds, which aims to ensure that all young people have the support and incentives they need to participate in education or training.

The event, held in the Abbey Community Centre, Westminster, London, is part of a programme of activities organised by the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and Article 12 to gather the views of 1,000 young people across the country. It is the largest consultation of young people the Treasury has undertaken.

Speaking at the event, Dawn Primarolo said:

“When people turn 16, they are faced with a wide range of options and opportunities, from courses at school and college to training programmes and apprenticeships. We want to ensure that young people don’t have to worry about the financial constraints when making this decision.

“This review aims to ensure that all young people are given the support and incentives they need to reach the age of 19 equipped for higher education or skilled employment.

“It is important that we get this support right and that is why we are keen to involve young people themselves in the policy making that affects them. I have been very interested to hear the views of the people gathered here today – they have made a vital contribution to our review.”

DETAILS

1. The review’s report, Supporting young people to achieve, was published alongside Budget 2004. It launched a consultation on the Government’s long-term vision of a single, coherent system of financial support for 16-19 year olds, which will complement the proposals of the Working Group on 14-19s Reform for a radically reformed qualification structure, culminating in a diploma.

2. As an initial step towards its long-term vision, the Government will introduce a package of short-term measures to improve choice, deliver minimum income standards and offer a more individualised, professional service to young people. At the centre of this package is the intention to remove the current distinction in Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Income Support between education and unwaged training and to support young people to finish their courses after their 19th birthday.

3. As part of the consultation, HM Treasury has contracted the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and Article 12 to run a programme of events and activities to gather the views of young people. The project involves 10 focus groups run by local voluntary youth organisations across the UK, 2 central consultation events held in London and Newcastle, and a questionnaire survey aiming to achieve a return from approximately 1,000 young people.

4. The event today involved 20-25 young people, from a wide range of different backgrounds. They were asked for their ideas and views on how particular aspects of the new system of support should work. Three interactive discussion activities on the following topics:

‘Something for something’ - which activities should be eligible for support from the Government and under what conditions?
‘Independence’ - when should a young person be treated as independent by the financial support system? Should it depend on, for example, their living status, income, main activity etc?
‘Keeping it simple’ - what streams of support should be included in a new integrated system?

Notes for editors:

1. Supporting young people to achieve is available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/financialsupport

2. Consultation closes 30 September 2004. Contributions should be sent to financialsupport.consultation@hm-treasury.gsi.gov.uk

3. NCVYS is an umbrella organisation representing over 150 national voluntary and community youth organisations and local networks. It co-ordinates 500,000 paid and voluntary youth workers who provide direct support to five million young people. See http://www.ncvys.org.uk/. Article 12 works to promote Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which gives the right to children and young people to express their views and to have them taken seriously in decision-making processes. See http://www.article12.com

4. Media enquiries should be addressed to Rachel Gibbons at the Treasury press office on 020 7270 5185.

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