The urgent need to provide jobs and training for young people is still being ignored two years after riots which shook Birmingham, an MP has warned.
Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) said the Government had failed to deal with any of the issues raised by the disturbances which hit cities across England this week in 2011.
In Birmingham, rioting and looting swept through the city causing massive damage.
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Three men were killed when they were hit by a car during the disturbances, while 12 shots were fired at police by a gang in Aston in an incident that led to six convictions for riot, arson and firearms offences.
Figures published last month show that 11,940 young people aged 16 to 18 were not in education, employment or training at the end of 2012 – 6.2 per cent of the entire population in that age-group.
In Birmingham the figure was 2,920, or 7.5 per cent.
The unemployment rate in the West Midlands is 9.8 per cent – but for people aged 16 to 24 it is 23.2 per cent, representing 89,000 people. Of those young people aged 16 or 17 who have joined the labour market, 35.4 per cent, more than a third, are unemployed. That’s 15,000 people.
Ministers set up the Riots Communities and Victims Panel to examine and understand why the riots took place.
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But it has emerged that the Government quietly published its formal response to the panel without fanfare last month.
There was no ministerial statement to mark the publication of the response.
Rather than responding to each of the panel’s recommendations in detail, the 30-page document sets out the action taken by the Government to deal with the criminals involved in vandalism and looting, restore business and community confidence, tackle the deep-rooted social issues underlying the unrest and improve relations between the police and the public.
Mr Mahmood said: “They haven’t really responded at all.
“The Government wanted to be seen to be tough on the rioters but there are a lot of issues that needed to be resolved and they’ve just been ignored.
“We haven’t actually had any support for communities at all.” Ministers needed to look at issues such as youth unemployment, involving young people in community activities, providing leisure facilities and cutting the number of young people not in employment, education or training, he said.
Communities minister Don Foster rejected suggestions that the Government had attempted to “bury” its report.
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“This is just one part of the package. Surely what ultimately matters is... what we are actually doing, rather than getting publicity for it.” The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has insisted that forces would be much better prepared to deal with a fresh outbreak of rioting two years after trouble flared in London and cities across England.
Sir Hugh Orde said police were better placed to be “able to nip it in the bud” if unrest threatened to break out again.
He said: “Over 5,000 people have been arrested since the riots, the vast majority for stealing designer goods. This was not anti-police, this was an opportunity, and a unique set of circumstances.
“The service has responded, we certainly are more organised now. Should an event happen or look like it’s going to happen, we can mobilise far more quickly. We have worked very closely with the Home Office and indeed the Home Secretary to make sure we are fit for purpose at the centre.”
Meanwhile, a writer has claimed that a fresh wave of rioting and looting is inevitable with one in five young people unemployed and children’s services being cut.
Polly Courtney said more unrest is “only a matter of time” unless the Government shifts its priorities to improve conditions for young adults. She interviewed young people in areas hit by the unrest as research for her novel, Feral Youth.
The former investment banker said the rioters that she spoke to had nothing to lose.
She said: “Charities are doing an incredible job right now but, unless there is a significant shift in government priorities and spending, more riots can only be a matter of time.
“Since August 2011, the situation for many young people has got worse, not better. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds is still at close to one million. That is 20 per cent of our young people out of work. More than half of councils have been forced to cut their spending on children’s services.”
Detectives have warned rioters that officers are still “going after” those who have not yet been found and held to account.
West Midlands Police said more than 90 per cent of people involved in the 2011 summer riots across the West Midlands have been identified and dealt with.
But they are still hunting for almost 80 with officers currently processing intelligence about several of them.