West London Careers Hub and partners lead the way in tackling NEET crisis with major youth employment roadmap

In a landmark moment for West London’s young people, on Wednesday 8th July, our West London Careers Hub team was proud to join our partners Youth Careers Collective, West London Alliance, and West London Business to launch the West London Youth Employment Roadmap.

The Roadmap is a major step forward in tackling the UK’s growing youth employment challenge. It aims to provide a coordinated framework for organisations to work together to reduce youth unemployment and support more young people into positive destinations. Developed over three years of extensive consultation with young people, employers, educators, local authorities, and community organisations, the Roadmap will feed directly into the next phase of Alan Milburn’s national review.

In attendance was Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber OBE, who delivered a keynote speech. The Deputy Mayor’s presence at this event reinforced the significance of this work and the collective responsibility of all partners to tackle the NEET challenge.

“By bringing together employers, educators, councils and communities, the West London Youth Employment Roadmap will help create more opportunities for young people across West London and the capital... Together, we can turn the tide on youth unemployment and build an inclusive talent system where every young Londoner has the chance to succeed.”

Howard Dawber OBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth

Crucially, young people themselves shaped the conversation. A panel of young speakers shared their own journeys into employment, helping steer discussion on the Roadmap's priorities and on how to embed youth voice further into policy, programmes, and employer engagement going forward.

This launch is not the end of this journey – it is just the beginning of making a real difference to young people in West London. We look forward to working with partners across the region to turn ambition into action.

Read the West London Youth Employment Roadmap here.

If you are interested in working with the four partners to implement the actions from the Roadmap, contact our Strategic Lead for the West London Careers Hub, Aarti Jaswal, at AJaswal@edt.org.