West Yorkshire Mayor Launches 'West Yorkshire Promise' to Tackle Youth Unemployment
Every Young Person In West Yorkshire To Be Guaranteed Work Experience Opportunities
Every young person in West Yorkshire will be guaranteed a taste of work by the age of 18, under a new strategy unveiled by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.
Launching her flagship Region of Learning and Creativity Strategy at Bradford College, Mayor Brabin made a series of straightforward commitments to young people aimed at helping them into work. These will include a work experience guarantee, alongside a pledge to deliver more apprenticeships, skills training and mental health support in collaboration with partners.
Taken together, these four cast-iron commitments make up the West Yorkshire Promise – a simple belief that no young person in the region should ever leave education without having first set foot in a workplace, and that no young person should be left on the scrapheap simply because the support they need is split between different agencies that don’t speak to one another.
The launch event brought young people together with the employers and educators that hold the keys to their success, to discuss the region’s response to the youth unemployment crisis gripping Britain.
Bradford was chosen for the launch as it’s one of the country’s leading success stories for turning the tide against the rising number of young people falling out of education. In the year 2022-2023, 6.8% of young people aged 16-17 in Bradford were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Today, that figure is almost a third lower at 4%, and below the national average of 5.8%.
The landmark West Yorkshire Promise comes at a moment of national alarm. The recent Government’s independent review into Young People and Work – led by the former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, and supported by Mayor Brabin as a member of its dozen-strong expert panel – warned that Britain faces a “lost generation”.
Almost a million 16-24 year olds now find themselves NEET, a number that could climb to 1.25 million – or a staggering one in six young people – if nothing changes over the next five years. Crucially, the review found that the vast majority of these young people desperately want to work or train, but simply can’t find the way in to a decent job.
While various top-down solutions are being proposed, the West Yorkshire Promise shows the country a different path – one where Mayors are truly empowered to join up local services so they can support young people in the round, ending the status-quo of young people being passed from pillar to post with little coordination between health, employment, skills and education services.
It is hoped that if this local, joined-up, West Yorkshire model works, it could be rolled out nationwide as part of the solution to the NEET crisis, with Mayor Brabin set to report on its successes to the Young People and Work review over the coming months.
Speaking at the launch event, Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
“Talent is everywhere in West Yorkshire, but opportunity isn’t. Where you come from shouldn’t decide how far you can go, and that is at the heart of our West Yorkshire Promise – a fair chance to flourish for every young person, no matter their background or postcode.
“So to every young person struggling to find work, and to every mum, dad or grandparent lying awake at night worried about their kids future, my message is simple – we will not write this next generation off. We will guarantee real work experience alongside the apprenticeships, skills training and mental health support our young people need to not only survive but thrive.
“Because you cannot fix this crisis from behind a desk in Whitehall. To join up support around a single young person – and save this next generation from a crisis of underconfidence and underemployment – you have to trust the places that know them best to deliver”.
The West Yorkshire Promise includes four concrete commitments to every young person aged 14-24. These are:
A Guaranteed Taste Of Work For Everyone
Working hand in hand with every secondary school, college, and a growing number of local employers, the Combined Authority will double the number of young people gaining meaningful work experience between the school years of 7 and 13 over the next three years.
This is the first big step towards delivering a guarantee of work experience for every young person by the time they turn 18. It builds on the 1,637 pupils who received a work placement through the region’s Careers Hub over the past year, and includes nearly £3 million to create new construction places for 16 to 18 year olds, to support the growth of West Yorkshire’s towns and cities and its new Weaver Network.
The first wave of support is aimed squarely at the young people who need it most – those from poorer backgrounds, those with additional needs, and those most at risk of dropping out of school.
More Apprenticeships Made Easier
The Combined Authority will turbocharge apprenticeships with a new offer that makes it far simpler for smaller firms to take on an apprentice.
It already runs a scheme that matches big employers’ unused apprenticeships funding with smaller businesses so they can afford the training costs. So far, the costs for hundreds of apprentices have been fully covered, with household names like Amazon and Asda among those passing on their funding to local businesses via the Combined Authority. The aim is to double apprenticeship starts by 2035.
Real-World Skills
Beyond exams, the West Yorkshire Promise will help young people to build the skills that employers say they’re crying out for, from the confidence to speak up, to the ability to work in a team, solve problems, think creatively, contribute to the growth of a business, or even set up their own business.
Importantly, the Promise recognises that young people learn these skills everywhere, not just in the classroom – through sports, volunteering, the arts, and through time spent in the workplace. All of these pursuits and enrichment opportunities will be encouraged and prioritised over the next ten years.
No Young Person Left Behind Because Of Their Health
Too many young people are being lost to the labour market because of a mental or physical health condition, and the Milburn review found that these young people make up a fast-growing share of those who are NEET.
Through its Healthy Working Life programme, the Combined Authority will help 2,000 young people with a health condition to get closer to earning or learning over the next 18 months, with advisers who treat them as a whole person, not a problem to be passed around different services.
Chris Webb, the CEO and Principal of Bradford College which hosted the event, said:
“At Bradford College, we see every day the difference that the right opportunity at the right time can make to a young person’s future. The West Yorkshire Promise is exactly the kind of bold, joined-up approach that’s needed to ensure no one is left behind.
“Because right now for our students the world isn’t a meritocracy and their lack of social capital holds them back. Every 14-24 year old not only deserves a chance, they deserve a champion too.
“By guaranteeing meaningful experiences of the workplace, alongside the skills, support and confidence young people need, we can help unlock talent across our region and turn aspiration into real career pathways.”
The Promise is also backed by hard targets. By 2035, the Combined Authority is aiming to halve the number of 16-17 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training – down from 6% to 3% – and bring youth unemployment down to the national average, which on current figures would mean 3,100 more young people in work.
West Yorkshire has spent five years building the foundations for the Region of Learning and Creativity Strategy to succeed.
In Bradford, a relentless focus on early support has pushed the share of 16-18 year olds not in education or work down to 4.1%, well below the national average, in part due to the successful tracking of at-risk young people by the council.
In Leeds, a pioneering scheme has helped young people with additional needs but no formal support plan to thrive in year-long work placements, with big gains in confidence and wellbeing reported.
Across the region, Employment West Yorkshire – the Mayor's flagship jobs programme, delivered locally in every council area – has supported more than 2,700 young people (aged under 24) since 2025 alone.
And in January, the region launched a new Creative Health programme, using music, art, sport, and the great outdoors to keep people well and in work – proof that this is about happier, healthier lives, not just jobs.
The Region of Learning and Creativity Strategy covers all 2.4 million residents of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, and will run for the next ten years. The Combined Authority is calling on employers, businesses, colleges, councils, charities and communities across the region to get behind it.
The Region of Learning and Creativity Strategy can be read at;
www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/resources/region-of-learning-and-creativity-strategy, with a 1.3 minute video explainer.
