Author: Martin Driver

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of Liverpool and the Leaders of Sefton, Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral Councils have issued a joint call on the Government to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination across the Liverpool City Region. 

In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi today (Friday 11 June), the political leaders say that rising rates in the areas surrounding the Liverpool City Region increases the likelihood of higher infection rates locally – as was seen over Christmas and the New Year. 

The Leaders wrote to the Vaccines Minister on 21 May but have not yet received a response. Since then, the situation has continued to deteriorate in neighbouring areas, meaning that there is an urgent need to act now to achieve maximum vaccine coverage amongst vulnerable communities. 

The Liverpool City Region has been hit harder than other areas during the pandemic and in autumn last year was the first to be put into Tier 3 measures. It is already challenged by deep-rooted health inequalities, which have been exacerbated during the pandemic. 

In a joint statement, the Metro Mayor, City Mayor and Leaders said: “Today we have called on the Health Secretary and Vaccines Minister to urgently provide our city region with the supplies of the vaccine and the flexibility of approach which we need to get our most vulnerable communities vaccinated as soon as possible. 

“We know from previous experience that it is inevitable that this wave of infections will hit us in next couple of weeks. Coupled with the potential further relaxation measures and increased social mixing, this will create a larger wave with deeper impacts, exactly as we have seen in previous waves across the North West.  We need to heed the lessons from previous waves and not simply repeat the approaches taken previously. 

“We wrote to the Vaccines Minister on 21 May and have yet to receive a response. 

“The situation is now urgent and we need extra vaccines and the flexibility and resources to use them to achieve maximum vaccine coverage across our vulnerable communities and also to accelerate the vaccination to provide wider population coverage.  

“It is vital that we do this now to get ahead of the situation and minimise the impact of this new wave of infections.” 

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, has announced the opening of a new support service offering a wide range of in-person services to help young people into education, training and employment across the Liverpool City Region.

As well as a comprehensive on-line service offering events, careers information, advice and guidance, young people will also be able to get in-person support at a network of eight initial Youth Hubs across the city region.

Based in existing organisations with a strong track record of supporting young people, Youth Hubs are also home to expert Job Centre Work Coaches who are there to help people find, stay in, and progress in a job.

The hubs will form a key part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram’s Young Person’s Guarantee, a manifesto commitment that promises a job, training or apprenticeship opportunity to all under 25s. When announced last year, the scheme was the first of its kind in the country and has since been replicated in Scotland and Wales.

Speaking about the service, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “Too many young people across our region are too often denied the chance to reach their full potential, not because they lack talent, but because they lack opportunity. The impact of the pandemic has only made things worse, with the poorest and most vulnerable hit the hardest.

“I know better than most the transformative impact that some decent careers advice and the opportunity to prove yourself can have. I want to make sure that all our young people get that same chance.

“These Youth Hubs will be an invaluable part of making that happen, offering careers advice and guidance; help accessing opportunities in training and education and giving our young people the support they need to shape their own destiny and get on in life.

“I am very proud to have just been re-elected on a promise of no one left behind. I’m already getting to work on making that a reality, starting young people in every part of our region.”

The accompanying Youth Hub website is an extension of the Combined Authority’s pioneering Be More service and is the first in the country to include details of hundreds of jobs available through the Government’s Kickstart scheme for those unemployed 16-24 year-olds who are eligible.

Youth Hubs are a national Department for Work & Pensions initiative aimed at helping young people access support to develop their skills, understand their career options and get the employment and training advice they need.

Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP said: “By rolling out our DWP Youth Hubs across local communities like these in Liverpool City Region, means young people will, importantly, be able to access vital, suitable support from our Work Coaches in a range of settings helping to match them with local opportunities; whether it’s more training to boost confidence or focussed help to assist them to move into employment.

“This is a challenging time, and we are serious about investing in our young people as we get Britain back working again and moving further into recovery. That’s why, as part of our enhanced Youth Offer, we are also injecting £2 billion into the DWP Kickstart scheme, creating new, subsidised, high-quality roles for under 25s as we continue our work to protect, support and create jobs.”

Youth Hubs are available to any young person within the city region who needs support.

Individual Youth Hub services can be found at the Local Youth Hubs Page.

Each hub is tailored to young people, so whether you’re interested in starting your own business, require specialist support or just need someone to talk to – everything is covered.

The first eight face-to-face Youth Hubs are open at:

• Merseyside Community Training [Birkenhead, Environmental Innovation Centre]
• Big Onion [Bootle, Strand Shopping Centre]
• Merseyside Youth Association [Liverpool, Hanover Street]
• Thrive [Liverpool, Preston Street]
• Ellergreen Community Centre[Liverpool, Ellergreen Road]
• Joseph Lappin Centre [Liverpool, Mill Lane]
• Genesis Kickstart2Employment [St Helens, Beacon Building]
• Employability Solutions @ The Reach [The Reach, Parklands, Speke]

More Youth Hubs will open over the coming months.