Young People and the GLA
To be young today is to face a pretty uncertain future in an uncertain world.
The Conservative and Lib Dem Coalition’s attack on universities and students is as short sighted as it is unfair. I do not support fees for higher education, which is why I voted against the introduction of top-up fees in the first place, when I was an MP. I know the benefit of EMA too – in some of the schools I visited, over 75% were receiving EMA. When speaking to sixth form students, they explained how important the allowance was in helping them stay on in school. Its abolition, and the trebling of tuition fees, will inevitably mean far fewer students going to higher education, which in the long run will be highly detrimental to the country and our economy as a whole. The end of EMA will make many sixth form courses unviable as student numbers drop. The cuts in university funding will mean less contact time with lecturers and reductions in courses and places.
The GLA is in an ideal position to scrutinise and monitor the impact of these cuts on Londoners, London schools, universities, FE colleges, and other educational institutions, and of course on young Londoners themselves. If elected to the GLA, I would see it as vitally important to collect detailed data to make the case against these cuts, as a key contribution to the campaign to force change in this unfair Conservative and Lib Dem coalition policy.
The employment market is particularly tough as a consequence of the Coalition’s cuts policy, with fewer training places and jobs, affecting not just new graduates who also face huge student debts, but young people who did not have the chance to go to university at all. The GLA can use the economic levers it has to persuade others to create the vast numbers of jobs needed for young Londoners. The GLA is a major purchaser of goods and commissioner of services, both directly and through GLA organisations like Transport for London. The GLA should use this power in the market place to make clear to those seeking to do business with the GLA, that it expects those organisations to play a full role in helping young Londoners get their foot in the employment market door. This means providing not just apprenticeships, but also traineeships and paid internships in administrative, managerial, professional and creative roles, too.
Housing costs and standards have always been challenging for young people, but never more so than at present, particularly in light of the Government’s cuts to housing benefit, and their demand that shared accommodation should be the norm for tenants even up to 35 years of age. For those in rented accommodation already, we need to see much tougher and fairer rent control in the private sector, coupled with effective environmental enforcement to ensure properties are properly maintained by their landlords. Rent levels have risen to exorbitant heights only made worse by benefit cuts.
The prospect for most young people of being able to buy into the housing market is a far off dream. So the key answer to the crisis in housing for young people (and indeed housing generally) is to increase the supply of properties available both for renting and for low cost ownership. I explain how we should go about this in detail in my web page on housing. If there is more accommodation of all sizes for rent, particularly for families, then as families with children are able to move out of overcrowded homes, so those homes become available for young people who need less space than a family with children.
Young people may also have families of their own, and there is a real risk of isolation, lack of support and consequent vulnerability, particularly for young mothers after the Conservative cuts to SureStart schemes. The Conservative GLA member has had nothing to say about these cuts.
Transport costs were a major issue for young people, especially school students, before the introduction of the young person’s Oyster card, when Labour last ran City Hall. Young people’s travel concessions are especially important in encouraging the use of public transport as a life style choice for the future, as it helps discourage car use later in life. I believe the GLA should look to extend concessions beyond the present scheme, to include all those in full time education.
We should also recognise that young people are likely to be victims of crime, at a rate higher than for the population as a whole. The highest incidence of street robbery is actually against teenagers. Young women are also at risk using public transport, especially in the evenings. These risks have been increased by the Conservatives’ cuts in Safer Neighbourhood and Safer Transport Police teams and reductions in tube station staff. We need a GLA member who will speak out against these cuts and fight to keep the police and station staff we need for the safety of all.
In their time in City Hall, the Conservatives have failed to deal with knife crime and youth gangs. If young people on our estates have no hope of a real future, then they will be dragged into the postcode gang culture of drugs and violence. The solution is not just action by police, but in taking on the root causes, including lack of opportunity, poor education results, and overcrowded and inadequate housing. The GLA should and must be in the forefront of action to deal with those underlying reasons for so many young people losing hope for the future.
