New Report on Economic Inactivity amongst young people in South East Scotland
Chris Nicol, Capital City Partnership, shares a new report looking at the data on inactivity amongst young people in South East Scotland. It explores the available data including numbers of young people who may be inactive, barriers experienced and support being provided.
Economic Inactivity Amongst Young People in South East Scotland
Please find attached an occasional paper that looks at inactivity amongst Young People in South East Scotland.
It looks at the different published data sets that reflect 16-24 year olds who may be inactive, before analysing some data from Helix (data recording system used by employers and employability services).
The executive summary and link to the full report can be found below. For more information or to join the mailing list to receive monthly data on employment in South East Scotland, please contact Chris Nicol at Chris.Nicol@capitalcitypartnership.org
Executive Summary
Whilst the Not in Employment Education and Training (NEET) numbers nationally are available through the Annual Population Survey/Labour Force the same data source is not available at a Local Authority level. When this is coupled with the age based limitations on benefit claiming, it indicates how accurate data is not available for the 16-24 year old cohort at a Local Authority level.
The best estimate is that there are 132 16 year olds and 653 17 year olds who are NEET (Annual Participation Measure from SDS). If this is combined with the 5,035 claimants count of 18-24 year olds (NOMIS) we arrive at a figure of 5,820 16-24 year olds who are NEET in the City Region. This is around 1 in 5 of the 16-24 year old population in the City Region and is broadly in line with the Scottish average.
From Helix we can see that in 2025/26 over 1,300 16-17 year olds started on a programme in the City Region and over 2,000 18-24 year olds. From what we can see we have a high level of engagement with the younger cohort (based on the APM) and around a third of the 18-24 year old claimant cohort.
The young people have a number of barriers with lack of work experience and low skilled featuring for a high proportion of both 16-17 year olds and also 18-24 year olds. Health conditions in particular mental health conditions were recorded frequently upon registration.
Whilst support type has been recorded it is often too generic to offer much insight into what is being provided and for how long.
A number of outcomes have been recorded against the cohorts. Education and Qualifications have been recorded against clients in high numbers for 16-17 year olds and whilst high numbers of these outcome types are also recorded for 18 -24 year olds, job outcomes become more important for the older cohort.
Find the full report attached below:
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