The Skill Mill Tallinn

Prosperity

Best practice: Tallinn adopts Newcastle’s successful Skill Mill model

Estonia faces the serious problem of a very high share of young people who are not employed or in education / training programmes (NEET youth). In 2016 the rate was 13.8%. Moreover, criminal activity of non-Estonians is on average 50-60% higher than that of Estonians. Most of them do not speak Estonian at all or not well, therefore they have fewer options on the job market and bigger socio-economic problems. In order to overcome the issue of NEET juvenile delinquency, Tallinn City explored ways to replicate the UK model of the Skill Mill. The Tallinn Skill Mill partnership includes city departments and different public, private and non-governmental actors. It is coordinated by an advisory board as in the UK. The target group are young ex-offenders: 18–24 years olds with low skills and poor educational outcomes, former NEETs with several custodial sentences, at the start of their employment. The programme provides employment in waterway clearance and land management. Successful trainees are offered a ‘next step’ job with a Skill Mill partner.