Giving young people real jobs is the only way to end their burning hate

Everything has been to do with zero tolerance, removal of benefits, improved police tactics and so on. There has been some discussion about finding the causes for outbreaks of violence on such a brutal scale and quite a lot of opinion on what should be done to mend our “broken society”.

One element that has been almost entirely missing from the discussion, however, has been the pivotal importance of widespread youth and other unemployment combined with a benefit system that discourages young people from taking any paid employment. The violent attacks on property and people have demonstrated clearly that our policies towards the poor and disadvantaged have been flawed for years. The hostility of many of our young people towards the police is a serious issue.

Meanwhile the police catch criticism from both sides: for undue harassment, body searching and similar on the one hand and for the inability to handle gang warfare, no-go areas and, in the early stages of the riots, their “soft” reaction to street crime, on the other. The breakdown in family values in sections of our population has become widespread.

All of these and many other problems will have to be dealt with and, because they have taken root over many years, the “cures” will likely take many years to work, even when we understand what they are. The Prime Minister has signalled that he is ready to take them on.

A more considered way of looking at our problems is clearly necessary and, to be fair, some new policies have been inaugurated by the Government. There is now a clearer understanding that the welfare state has gone far beyond the original Beveridge intentions of providing a safety net for those in need and unable to fend for themselves.

Beveridge wrote: “In establishing a national minimum it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family.” The unemployed would have to go to a work or training centre. They would not be allowed to stay out of work long term.

Since the Eighties our attitude to unemployment has changed radically but we have not yet understood the extent to which we should alter our policies to tackle it. Then it was looked upon by many as a useful bulwark against union militancy and a way of controlling wage inflation. The situation is different today. It is rightly considered a waste of productive potential and a debilitating misuse of talent. It is a cancer in our society, encouraged by the growth of a welfare culture.

I originally suggested the introduction of Community National Service in my recent book Kick the Tyres, Light the Fires. It is clearly even more important now, following the impact of the recession and the recent violent demonstrations. It should be taken up promptly by government as unemployment is likely again to rise above 2.5 million and nearly a million 16 to 24-year-olds are out of work.

Community National Service would provide every fit applicant between 16 and 24 with professional training and the offer of one of a wide range of jobs in the applicant’s community that he or she would be capable of doing. It would be voluntary but benefits would cease on the day paid work began. It would be a real job, earning at least the minimum wage, more as responsibilities increased. Of paramount importance is the fact that all these jobs would be based within communities and the young people would live at home.

The jobs on offer would include helping old and young, in schools, in hospitals and care homes; community work (helping to organise get-togethers, club and sporting activities, music sessions, meals on wheels, etc); planting trees, gardening, improving footpaths, clearing waste; repairing empty and derelict properties, painting public buildings, insulating houses and many other activities.

All the other complex job-creation programmes for the young, including those by voluntary organisations, would be wound down and the cost of these (Jobseekers Allowance alone costs about £6billion), plus the huge savings on other benefits and redundant schemes would contribute towards the cost. Voluntary organisations would still play an important role in the training and managing of Community National Service. The recent proposals for a National Citizens Service for 16-year-olds to do summer work is a step in the right direction but the youth unemployment crisis needs far stronger medicine. The whole point is that work should be paid and permanent.

A similar trial programme should be undertaken for Community National Service, perhaps eventually supplanting the shorter programme. Community National Service should go hand in hand with the Government’s plan for increasing apprenticeships, which should be applauded.

Numbers were boosted by 50,000 in the budget, bringing the increase in apprenticeships over the next four years to 250,000. The crucial point in all of this is that, instead of paying young people not to work, we should be using the huge benefit savings to pay employers to take them on. In Germany, where they are far more closely integrated with the schools system, more than half of young people complete accredited apprenticeship schemes and then move into industry.

To eliminate youth unemployment altogether within three to four years would be a remarkable achievement but with real energy and application it could be done. It would bring huge improvements to our culture through having young people doing useful jobs and gaining the confidence of working with others. It would introduce into our society a young workforce full of energy even, dare it be said, obviating the need for so many immigrants.

There would be knock-on benefits of a reduction in petty crime and it would constitute a major step in mending our “broken society”. The key to its success would be through the strengthening of community ties and community-based activities.

The thought of a couple of million of our young people contributing to our social needs is inspiring.

This is surely what the Big Society is, or should be, all about.