Published Delegated Executive Decisions

Decision ref

0047 2025/26

Decision date

22/10/2025

Portfolio

Business and Inclusive Growth

Wards

All wards

Title

Youth Guarantee Trailblazer – acceptance of funding

Summary

The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer (YGT) will help St Helens tackle youth economic inactivity with £370,693 in funding. It targets 17–21-year-olds, especially NEET and care-experienced youth, through support in employability, NEET tracking, and employer engagement. Delegated approval is sought to accept funding, negotiate and sign any required agreements, and endorse commencement of delivery and procurement.

Purpose

To set out details of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer programme, including the Liverpool City Region’s allocation to St Helens, and provide an update on intentions for the deployment of the funding for 2025/26. DED approval is therefore sought to negotiate, agree and accept any subsequent grant agreements from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and for delegations to secure the commencement of delivery of the programme across the Borough.

Background

The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer (YGT) is a Government scheme that was awarded to the Liverpool City Region (LCR) that aims to address the high levels of economic inactivity among 18-21-year-olds. The initiative will operate initially in 2025/26, although a further year of funding has been announced and will be the subject of further decisions. The programme will cover six LCR local authorities: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton, and Wirral. The program will focus on universal and targeted interventions to support young people, particularly those with care experience and other vulnerable groups. The LCR and St Helens faces significant challenges with higher-than-national-average NEET rates among young people. YGT is designed to address these challenges through a coordinated, multi-agency approach that includes digital inclusion, youth employment support, and targeted interventions for vulnerable groups. After engagement with local authorities, the LCR Combined Authority (LCRCA) submitted and agreed a proposal to DWP for the delivery of YGT. Universal elements will be available to all 18-21-year-olds, while targeted interventions will focus on specific areas and cohorts with identified needs. The LCR has a higher proportion of economically inactive young people compared to the national average, with significant challenges related to ill health and skills gaps. The proposal aims to address these issues by building on the Local Growth Plan and focusing on skills and health inequalities. The core offer includes the following elements: - Digital Inclusion:  Ensuring young people have access to digital resources and skills. - Youth Employment Support:  Providing engagement and intensive support around transition points. - Employer Support:  Engaging employers to create opportunities for young people, including bespoke support for priority cohorts. - Support for Care Experienced Young People:  Tailored interventions for care leavers to improve their education, employment, and training outcomes. - Tracking and Monitoring:  Ongoing evaluation to inform and adjust the programme as needed Target cohorts are:  - Care leavers aged 17-21, with a focus on those not in education, employment, or training.  - 17-18-year-olds at risk of long-term NEET and those with non-sustained participation in employment or education.  - Potential additional focus on young people with experience in the criminal justice system and those with specific SEND needs. The LCRCA proposal includes a detailed implementation plan with activities, communication strategies, and milestones to ensure timely delivery.  The LCRCA will oversee the overall coordination and management of the programme. The programme will be subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation to ensure effectiveness and continuous improvement.  The following 4 strands will be devolved to the Council for delivery and/or commissioning:  - Support for care experienced young people including development of best practice  - NEET tracking project  - Employment and Employability Support for young people  - Employer engagement and incentives  Support for care experienced young people including development of best practice This strand has been allocated £129,533 and is expected to engage with 51 care leavers to support them towards education, employment and training. The Council are currently responsible, as Corporate Parents, for 441 Children We Look After and 437 Care Experienced adults. At present 63% of our care experienced 17- and 18-year-olds and 61% of our care experienced 19-21s are in Education, Employment or Training. Whilst these figures compare favourably to regional and national data, further improvements are required, which YGT can assist with. To date, care experienced young people have not been given the same opportunity as those in the wider community, an issue which needs urgent remedy given the Corporate Parenting role. YGT provides an opportunity for children’s social care and education colleagues to work with the wider employment offer and ensure that those with care experience benefit from a wide range of opportunity. Our young people represent the wide spectrum of the community, be that manual roles, retail, hospitality, education and training. This strand will ensure that more of them are enabled and supported into education and training. NEET tracking project This strand has an allocation of £27,088. YGT is an opportunity to commission bespoke ‘roll on/roll off’ opportunities for young people that complement the current post 16 offer, providing young people with the following: - Greater self-confidence, resilience and trust, emotional development - Improved communication and presentation skills - Social, Emotional Mental Health (linked to workplace and learning environment behaviours) and/or support to understand and apply appropriate behaviours in the workplace or in training and education - Physical Health & Wellbeing - Budgeting & Financial Support - Housing Support Local authorities have broad duties to encourage, enable and assist young people to participate in education or training. Specifically, these are: aged 16 and 17 who have not attained level 3 qualifications of sufficient size are under a duty to continue in education or training until the young person’s 18th birthday. Tracking young people’s participation is a key element of these duties. Local authorities are required to collect information about young people so that those who are not participating, or are NEET, can be identified and given support to re-engage. Robust tracking also provides the local authority with information that will help to ensure that suitable education and training provision is available and that resources can be targeted effectively. The YGT Tracking Project would be able to complement the Local Authorities commissioned service (tracking young people aged 16/17), identifying the cohort, gathering evidence based understanding of what young people feel would assist them to make a successful and sustainable transition. Employment and Employability Support for Young People. This strand has been allocated £140,862. The current assumption is that the target is to work with at least 43 young people. This strand will focus on adding value to existing work, especially within the Council’s Ways To Work employment service, while addressing gaps in current provision. The work will include the following elements: Adding value to the existing Young Person’s Guarantee programme (YPG). The Liverpool City Region Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment to offer every young person aged 18–24 who has been out of work, education or training for over six months a job, training, or apprenticeship opportunity. YPG includes wage incentives for employers and personalised mentoring. As such it aligns well with YGT work. The support will be dovetailed with the wider Ways To Work employment support offer, ensuring complementarity and additionality. Elements of this offer will be: Initial Engagement: Outreach and trust-building activities (e.g., community-based sessions, youth mentoring, digital drop-ins) Employability Support: CVs, interview prep, confidence building, digital skills Employment Support: Work tasters, supported internships, placements with local employers Progression Planning: Ongoing one-to-one support to co-design a viable destination (education, training, employment, volunteering) Work will also be procured to support 17 year olds into progression pathways. Employer engagement and incentives This strand has been allocated £73,208. The current assumption is that the target is to work with at least 20 local businesses to support young people. Grants or incentives up to £,000 to businesses will be available to facilitate recruitment and retention of young people at risk of NEET. This can include the Council itself as an employer. The intention is to host a number of employer network events focussed on the benefits of recruiting and supporting young people within the Borough by showcasing the support available through local partnerships. Extending existing YPG subsidised placements from 3 to 5 or 6 months in length and to add value to the existing YPG work by including additional support. Delivering business network and seminar events to bring together local businesses to provide support and mentoring to facilitate the recruitment of young people who are NEET and who may require additional support. This may include care experienced young people. Grant Funding Agreement Compliance The Council will have to comply with the terms of the attached Grant Funding Agreement. This includes obligations around eligible expenditure, reporting, data protection, evaluation, and exit planning. The Council will also support LCRCA in meeting its obligations to DWP.

Conclusion

The Youth Guarantee Trailblazer represents a significant opportunity for St Helens to address the persistent challenge of economic inactivity among young people, particularly those facing additional barriers such as care experience or risk of long-term NEET status. Through a combination of universal and targeted interventions, the programme will enhance existing provision and deliver tailored support that aligns with local needs and priorities. The indicative allocation of £370,693 will enable the Council to deliver four key strands of the programme, focusing on employability, employer engagement, tracking, and support for care experienced young people. These interventions will build on existing initiatives such as the Young Person’s Guarantee and will be delivered in partnership with local stakeholders to maximise impact. Cabinet approval to accept and implement the funding will ensure that St Helens is well-positioned to contribute to the wider Liverpool City Region objectives while delivering meaningful outcomes for its young residents. The programme will be subject to robust monitoring and evaluation, ensuring continuous improvement and accountability throughout its delivery.

Risk Implications

The successful delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer (YGT) programme is subject to several potential risks, which have been identified and will be actively managed throughout the programme lifecycle: Delayed Grant Confirmation: At the time of writing, the Council has not yet received a formal grant offer from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA). Any delay in confirmation could impact the start of delivery and the ability to meet spending deadlines. Tight Delivery Timescales: The funding must be spent and all activity completed by 31 March 2026. This presents a risk to delivery, particularly if there are delays in procurement, recruitment, or mobilisation of partners. Capacity and Resource Constraints: The programme will require coordination across multiple teams and partners. Limited internal capacity or competing priorities could affect the quality and timeliness of delivery. Engagement of Target Cohorts: Reaching and engaging vulnerable young people, including care leavers and those with complex needs, may be challenging. Failure to do so could limit the programme’s impact and effectiveness. Monitoring and Compliance: The programme will be subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation. There is a risk of non-compliance with grant conditions if robust systems are not in place for data collection, reporting, and financial management. Mitigation measures include early planning, close collaboration with LCRCA and local partners, proactive engagement with target groups, and the establishment of clear governance and reporting mechanisms

Measures to Redress Risk

Mitigation measures include early planning, close collaboration with LCRCA and local partners, proactive engagement with target groups, and the establishment of clear governance and reporting mechanisms.

Declarations Of Interest

Respondee	Interest
Joanne Anders	Interest in the VAT recovery of expenditure.

Equality Impact Assessment

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More information

Please contact Steven Berlyne on 01744 671750