Barnet's Young Claimants at 1,700 as City Hall Looks at AI

Employers will be asked what is stopping them hiring young Londoners, and what artificial intelligence is doing to the jobs open to them, at a London Assembly hearing at City Hall on Tuesday 10 November from 10am.

The Assembly’s Economy, Culture and Skills Committee is continuing its investigation into youth unemployment in London, this time “focussing on the role of AI in job availability”, the Assembly said in its notice of next week’s meetings.

The question is a live one in this borough. 1,700 Barnet residents aged 16 to 24 were on the claimant count in September, the highest figure for the age group since October 2021, according to ONS figures published through nomis. It was the only age group in Barnet higher than a year earlier, as we reported when the September count came out.

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Who the committee will hear from

The morning is split into two panels.

Hiring young people: the view from employers, 10am to 11.30am

• Erin Walsh, Director, West London Alliance
• Lizzie Crowley, Senior Public Policy Manager, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
• Rob Brooks, Senior Manager: Workforce, NHS North East London
• Allen Simpson, Chief Executive, UKHospitality

The impact of technology and AI on youth unemployment, 11.30am to 1pm

• Oliver Nash, Associate Director of Innovation, Institute for the Future of Work
• More guests are still to be confirmed, the Assembly said.

The employers’ panel brings in the health service and hospitality alongside the CIPD and the West London Alliance.

What the figures show

The claimant count for Barnet residents aged 16 to 24:

That is a rise of 25 in a month and 80 in a year. Across all ages the borough’s count rose by 370 in September to 13,230, 5.1% of residents aged 16 to 64, though that was still 105 lower than a year before. The ONS figures do not say why claims are rising, and they do not show whether AI has anything to do with it: that is the question the committee is asking employers.

The October figures are due later this month, and we will report them for Barnet.

The rest of the week at City Hall

• Thursday 12 November, 10am, GLA Oversight Committee. Members will look at whether the Greater London Authority has “robust audit arrangements”, and at its efficiencies and savings programme. Fay Hammond, Chief Finance Officer, and Michelle Wells, Head of Performance and Governance, answer questions on audit from 10am to 11am; Mary Harpley, the GLA’s Chief Officer, takes the savings questions from 11am to noon.
• Thursday 12 November, 2pm, Environment Committee. The committee will scrutinise the environmental impact of datacentres in London. The first panel is Oliver Hayes, Head of Campaigns at Global Action Plan; Olivia Law-Zygadlo, the Park Royal resident campaign lead; and Karen Fitzgerald, a North Ockendon resident and lead campaigner for “No to East Havering Data Centre”. The second is Charlie Wood, Area Director at the Environment Agency; Jon Chappel, Deputy Director at Water UK; Bob Burgoyne, Associate Director at the Carbon Trust; and Rory Murphy of the University of Exeter.

All three meetings are in The Chamber at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE.

What it means for you

• You can watch or attend. London Assembly committee meetings are public, and papers and webcasts are on london.gov.uk.
• If you want to follow the numbers, Barnet’s claimant count is updated every month on nomis, and we report it each time.
• If you employ young people in Barnet, this is the investigation where the barriers to hiring them are being put on the record; your Assembly Member can pass on your view.

We will report what the committee hears about AI and young people’s jobs after the meeting.