Government should force councils to tackle huge gaps in local knowledge of NEETs 2 July 2026 Welcoming the Government’s announcement that it has tasked councils with better recording the whereabouts of teenagers who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), Julia Diniz, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The roots of Britain’s NEETs crisis – where over a million young people today are not in employment, education or training – start before they reach adulthood. “Resolution Foundation research last year showed that there were tens of thousands of 16-17 year olds who were not in work or education, and huge variation over local authorities’ ability to track their whereabouts. In Dudley, over one-on-five 16-17 year olds had fallen off their records, compared to fewer than one-in-fifty in boroughs like Barnet and Ealing. “If councils are to do a better job of helping young people into work or education, a crucial first step should be to know who and where they are in the first place. Furthermore, if support for young people is to be further devolved it needs to be matched by national standards that all local authorities must meet.”
