Barnsley is plagued with feral youngsters in story echoed across the North: Jayne Dowle

Prime Minister Andy Burnham describes the situation as “an economic catastrophe and a moral failure”. He’s right, and promises of tough love send the right political message. However, the government have their work cut out.

Here in Barnsley, where former Labour council leader Sir Steve Houghton set a lot of current thinking around neets in motion, the town centre is absolutely plagued with feral youngsters right now. Sorry, but there is no other word for it. Other towns around our region and across the North of England report similar lawlessness.

Regular fights and intimidation of staff and passengers in the Transport Interchange. Youngsters rampaging through car parks whilst motorists either cower or give chase. And over the weekend, at least 100 kids were running riot through the town centre, with police in pursuit. They were believed to have been attending a Halloween party that had got out of hand.

Of course, not every under-25-year-old behaves like this. But how on earth is anyone going to reach all those young people who consider themselves above any law, who have dropped out of school or college with no intention of going back, who don’t even think about the possibility of looking for a job?

Milburn’s plans, which would see combined and local authorities, including those run by mayors, on the frontline, owe much to the pioneering work already being done in South Yorkshire. Milburn is arguing that these authorities, backed by upfront funding from the Treasury, would be placed in charge of root and branch measures to tackle youth unemployment in their areas.

Before he was ousted by Reform UK in the May local elections, Houghton set out a pioneering scheme, the ‘Pathways to Work’ Framework. It followed some hard thinking about how worklessness in Barnsley could be conquered.

Backed by £18m from central government, it takes a holistic approach to tackling the often deep-seated barriers to employment. These might include multi-generational worklessness within a family, poor educational attainment, difficulties with transport to jobs and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The argument goes that earlier intervention and greater support would mean fewer young people on benefits. In the long term, this would reduce the welfare bill without making politically damaging cuts.

Pathways to Work has three key strands; employment social workers, who are dedicated coordinators providing tailored one to one support to navigate competing demands across government agencies, the NHS and schools, a localised triage system connecting young people and jobseekers rapidly with the specific health, skills, or education they need and employer re-engagement.

This third strand would see the local authority acting as an intermediary, ensuring young people are matched with viable opportunities while requiring local businesses to implement flexible working and enhanced occupational health support.

The then work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, liked the Pathways to Work idea so much she handed the South Yorkshire combined authority £10 million in May 2025 to expand the plan in Rotherham, Doncaster and Sheffield.

Will it make any difference? Dealing with individuals on a one-to-one basis is a positive approach, but the bigger challenge is the environment of negativity and neglect that plagues our towns and cities.

Milburn should seek out and speak with people like Rotherham resident Jake Boyes, a 20-year-old engineering apprentice, who made a Facebook page about his hometown and spends a lot of his spare time talking to local people about Rotherham’s ‘pathologies’. It is those people – who feel no optimism and see no point – who are the ones in need of tough love the most. However, our towns and cities, hollowed out by retail and hospitality closures, patrolled by security guards and echoing to the sound of hopelessness, are going to need much more than love.