Government to tackle race disparity in work as figures show young BAME groups twice as likely to be unemployed

The Prime Minister has announced a new programme to address ethnic disparities in youth unemployment after figures showed 16 to 24 year olds from BAME groups were twice as likely to be unemployed as their white peers.

Ninety million pounds, taken from a fund made up of money from dormant bank accounts, will go towards tackling inequalities in youth unemployment and helping disadvantaged young people get into work.

Theresa May's announcement comes after she challenged society to “explain or change” disparities in how people from different backgrounds are treated, following the publication of the Race Disparity Audit in October.

The new programme will offer young people the chance to work directly with educators and youth and community organisations – who will consider how their skills can benefit their local communities and businesses.

It marks the start of an engagement phase which will see the Government and the Big Lottery Fund running a series of workshops with young people from across the country.

The funds will be taken from a sum of money taken from bank and building society accounts which have remained untouched for at least 15 years and where the holder cannot be traced by a financial institution.

Tracey Crouch, the minister for sport and civil society, announced in January that housing initiatives aimed at homeless and vulnerable people, social enterprises and local charities in England would receive around £135m from the fund over the course of the next four years.

Announcing the programme, the Prime Minister said that while the educational attainment gap between people of different backgrounds had narrowed over time, this had not been reflected in getting jobs.

“Youth unemployment blights communities and wastes talent and potential – and too many young people from deprived and ethnic minority backgrounds face barriers preventing them from entering the world of work," she said.

“Evidence from the Race Disparity Audit clearly shows that while the educational attainment gap between people of different backgrounds has narrowed over time, this has not been reflected in getting jobs.

“Talent, ability and hard work should be the only factors affecting a young person’s ability to get on in life – not their background or ethnicity.

“The launch of this ambitious programme, which has young people at its heart and draws on their direct experiences, will help to address the barriers holding many young lives back, and will support young people furthest from the labour market into employment, so they can achieve their full potential.”

Dawn Austwick, chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund, meanwhile said: “Young people who are facing multiple barriers to employment are the best placed to tell us what needs to change for them.

“They will be at the heart of the process to shape solutions and create a dormant accounts youth programme that works for them by working with employers, educators, youth and community organisations.”

Simon Woolley, chair of the Race Disparity Advisory Group and Director of Operation Black Vote, said: “This intervention is driven by the Prime Minister's leadership with support from NGOs.

“Our role is to find out where and how we can make the biggest impact on a range of issues including youth unemployment and the ethnic disparities within it.