LEADERS of Thurrock Council's two political parties have clashed over the issue of youth employment in the borough.

Labour opposition leader Cllr John Kent set the ball rolling by claiming the authority was trying to hide the number of young people not in work and was refusing to answer questions in the council chamber about the issue.

However, Conservative council leader Rob Gledhill has countered with his own detailed argument and has accused his political rivals of engaging in 'dog-whistle' politics.

Cllr Kent, backed up by Chadwell St Mary ward councillor Sara Muldowney had wanted to quiz the leadership at last week's meeting of the full council but two questions they submitted were rejected.

Cllr Muldowney had wanted to ask: "What steps are the Council taking to address youth unemployment in Thurrock?" while Cllr Kent said: "More than 11 per cent of Thurrock's 18 to 24 year olds are now out of work. Will the leader of the council set out the administration's plans for getting our young people back into work?"

Both questions were blocked as the council said they had already been asked at a recent meeting and it was not protocol for the same questions to be repeated.

That prompted Cllr Kent to say Cllr Gledhill was "using a loophole to dodge scrutiny on alarming rise in Youth Unemployment".

He added: "Youth unemployment in Thurrock has doubled since March and is two per cent higher than the national average. Despite such a dramatic increase in recent months, councillors have been denied the chance to discuss the matter or ask questions of the Conservative Council Leader because of an obscure procedural loophole.

"I'm angry and very disappointed because, rather than openly discuss the problem, the Conservatives have used a council procedural loophole to dodge scrutiny. I've been told we can't put our questions because I asked about youth unemployment in July, but the Leader of the Council left the meeting early, before I had the chance to put my questions to him.

"With more than one in ten of our young people out of work, this issue isn't going away. The Tories have some serious questions to answer and they need to stop running away."

Cllr Muldowney added: "There can be few issues of more importance than the alarming increases in youth unemployment in this borough, yet we can't discuss it!"

Cllr Gledhill was asked by Thurrock Nub News about his rivals' contentions and he gave a detailed answer.

He says: "Yet again we see the Labour Group in Thurrock engaging in dog whistle politics and not being totally open with the facts.

"As the former leader of the council he is full aware that the council's constitution is clear over asking the same or a similar question within a set period of time. Equally that the council's senior legal officer has the right to refuse the repeated question and no councillor or political group has any influence over that process. This period used to be 12 months but since I have been leader that time has been reduced to three months to aid debate.

"The Labour Leader had the opportunity to resubmit his question after the July meeting but insisted that he got a written reply instead. Since then not one member of the Labour group has asked either officers, my cabinet member or myself a follow up question in relation to youth unemployment instead looked to grandstand in the chamber to try and score political points.

"We are all aware of the impact that the pandemic has had on our businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector, which in turn is adding to the issues experienced by Thurrock's younger workers. We are, as a council, undertaking the following

• We are leading a £3.55m Community Led Local Development programme in Tilbury that has attracted funding from the European Structural and Investment Funds to support projects that are helping people to gain skills and confidence and to find work. There are two active projects and another four approved to begin.

• We have promoted job opportunities available to people in Thurrock through the Thurrock Opportunities webpage; Our Inspire Youth Hub is operating a virtual hub supporting a range of young people to access on line learning platforms. We are working on a paper to be taken to People Board to look at how we can recruit vulnerable learners into the council under the apprenticeship programme.

• The Council has launched calls for businesses to apply for our apprenticeship levy transfer scheme. Businesses can apply for a share of any unspent apprenticeship levy held by the Council to support their apprenticeship schemes.

• We are working with the local colleges, training providers and the job centre through the Economic Development and Skills Partnership to ensure a co-ordinated response to worklessness and to skills development for all Thurrock residents.

• As a result of COVID-19 the unemployment rate for all age groups is rising significantly and the Council is working with partners to identify other sources of funding and where we can work together more effectively to help get people into work.

• We have submitted an application for phase two of our On Track Thurrock programme this targets 16-29 year olds into in education employment and training. The learning from our phase one programme and the partnerships we have made with local providers ensures we have a wider network of support for learners.

• We are working with South Essex College who are seeking Government support to create a transport and logistics academy that will train young people in Thurrock.

• The work of the economic development and skills partnership is focussing on what recovery will look like and as we further develop the plan we will engage with our key partners to provide a joined up offer of support.

• The portfolio holder for education have been working with elected members from across the Thames Gateway corridor to support both employers and residents in accessing information around the skills offer. This work is continuing and follow up meetings have been arranged – the key topics have been apprenticeships and skills training for local residents.

• The Local Enterprise Partnerhip have announced skills funding money and the Economic Development & Skills team are working with colleagues from across Essex Southend & Thurrock to identify any potential funding opportunities – recognising the strength in partnership funding applications.

• We are working to further develop a range of programmes that will target vulnerable learners – including our special educational needs programme delivered at Grangewaters."