Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE has called for action to save summer jobs across Westminster by removing barriers to young people entering work. The council leader has backed new Conservative plans to give young people more flexibility over shift patterns and breaks and simplifying restrictions on evening working, whilst protecting young people's education.
The announcements are the latest step in the Conservative Party's campaign to save the summer job. Earlier this year, the party pledged to scrap unnecessary red tape permits required for businesses to employ young people, lift the two-hour Sunday working limit for under-16s, and allow them to work until 9pm should they choose to.
Labour's damaging Employment Rights Act is piling further pressure on seasonal businesses and making it harder for them to recruit. The Conservatives will scrap its job-destroying measures, abolish business rates for 250,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and introduce our Cheap Power Plan to cut business electricity bills by 20 per cent.
The crisis in youth unemployment was highlighted in a report from former Labour Minister Alan Milburn, in which he said early employment "helped young people build confidence, learn the habits of work and show employers what they could do", but that there has been "a fall in the number of students aged 16 to 17 doing any work from 35% in 2006 to 19% today".
The outdated regulations - inherited from the European Union - place unnecessary restrictions on young people's ability to work. These can be scrapped now Britain is outside the EU, giving young people greater freedom and opportunity to enter the workplace.
Under the Conservatives' plan, 16- and 17-year-olds and employers would have greater flexibility over when breaks are taken, allowing them to be taken at any point during a shift. Young people in full-time education or training would be able to work until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays during term-time and without restriction during holidays. The required 48 consecutive hours off work in any seven-day period would also be reduced to 24 hours.
Cllr Swaddle, Leader of Westminster City Council, said:
"My first job was working as a decorator's assistant, aged 15. I know first-hand the skills, confidence and experience a summer job can give a young person.
"We must make it easier for our local businesses to give young people that vital first step onto the career ladder. That's why we need more flexibility for young people about when they can work and take breaks and scrapping needless red tape and permits that make it harder for businesses to give young people a chance."
Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said:
"A generation of young people risks being locked out of work because of unnecessary red tape, higher taxes and economic uncertainty.
"Simplifying rules about when young people can work and take breaks will help save the summer job and give employers the confidence they need to hire a young person."
Kate Nicholls OBE, Chair of UK Hospitality, said:
"60% of first jobs were in hospitality. We give so many young people their first step on the career ladder. These sensible reforms will remove unnecessary barriers for businesses and give young people the opportunity to learn new skills and gain the confidence that comes with a first job."
Luke Johnson, Entrepreneur and Chairman of Gail's, said:
"It's business that creates jobs, not governments.
"It's high time politicians recognised that pricing and regulating young people out of getting experience of work helps no one. I therefore welcome these plans to make summer and weekend jobs more viable for all concerned."
