The Crisis Facing the next generation in the True North.
Now that we have increasing levels of devolution to our North East region through the Mayoral Combined Authority, there needs to be a serious debate about the direction the Mayor is taking us. Our Mayor should focus relentlessly on the most important issue facing us – the lack of a future for our young people. That is what is holding our region back and what will drive future prosperity for us all.
Nowhere is the NEET problem worse than it is in the North East. Nearly a fifth of 16- to 24-year-olds are Not in Employment Education, Employment or Training. We estimate that 53,000 people aged 16 to 24 were NEET in our region in 2025. The focus needs to be on better education, better training, incentivising and empowering employers to give young people a start on the employment ladder and turning welfare into an actual support into work.
The latest education attainment results paint a bleak picture of our regions education and a warning that this requires urgent action. For example at A Level 32.7% of entries in London achieved an A or A*this summer. In the North East that figure was just 23.1%. One aspect that does stand out is the lack of a clear channel for children who are not academically minded. In addition we have the highest rate of young people falling out of education. Let us try something radical such as piloting an improved V Level, and combining practical learning with real, paid experience of work.
Businesses are telling us all that they are struggling to make ends meet through increasing regulation, ever higher business rates, steep hikes in the employment tax of National Insurance and a higher Minimum Wage that has put them off giving young people that first experience of work. Supporting local business and driving our regional growth is the route to creating futures for our young people. Employers need a break and they need incentives and training support when they take that chance on a first time employee.
Let us also pilot a shake up of the Welfare system in the North East. Let our system be a support and a hand up into careers and employment for, as has been well proven, good employment generally leads to better mental health outcomes. Too often young people with mild mental health conditions are consigned through the Welfare System into a life of permanent inactivity. The current PIP and Universal Credit schemes urgently need to be reformed. The trend of young people who are inactive because they are sick has risen sharply since 2019. The regions benefit data shows that the number of young people claiming the health element of Universal Credit has tripled from 5,000 to 15,000 and is still increasing.
This is a call to action. We do have an increasing crisis in our region. Our young people deserve to be given a brighter future than they are seeing now. The current status quo is failing, not just for them but for us all. Let us all recognise the extent of the emergency we are facing and look for the radical solutions required to tackle the underlying issues.
Commenting, Dan Harrison MBE, Director of True North and Trustee of the Harrison Foundation said,
“The North has no shortage of talented young people. What we too often lack is an equality of opportunity that allows every young person to turn that talent into achievement.
The 2026 exam and updated NEET figures should therefore be a call to action. If the North is to fulfil its economic potential, improving educational attainment cannot be treated as peripheral education policy. It must be at the centre of our approach to regional growth.
Businesses, charities, universities and local government all have a role to play. Most importantly, we need to raise expectations without pretending that expectations alone are enough.
The time for talking and reporting has passed; clear actions and intervention are needed now.”
Peter Jackson, Director of True North and Northern businessman added,
“We, as a Region, need to recognise the scale of this crisis and we need to take responsibility to set out a better future for our young people. If we do little or nothing new then we are consigning a new generation to a life of worklessness and dependence.
No longer can we rely on national government to take the blame. With the right direction and single minded focus we have the ability to correct this and find solutions to make a positive difference.”
