In a report submitted to the County Council’s Children Services Panel, officers disclosed that almost one in four of all young people in the County’s care between the ages of sixteen and eighteen were neither employed or in education or training (NEET). This compares with average for this age range of one young person in thirty.

Mark Watkin, Opposition Spokesperson for Children’s Services commented “This is shameful. These young people are entrusted to the care of the County Council and for so many to be aimlessly drifting at such a young age in a County with some of the best schools and colleges and with one of the lowest unemployment figures in the country is damning.

“I recognise that these young people present some of the highest challenges of any group, but if they stay unemployed and out of education for too long they will inevitably drift into crime and possibly prison which would be totally unacceptable.

Mark concluded by saying, “It is critically important that the County Children’s Service addresses this as a matter of urgency.”