‘Accurate, timely tracking is not a box-ticking exercise,’ Bridget Phillipson says, and the figures behind that warning are hard to ignore. Government data reported by councils shows 32,100 16- and 17-year-olds in England are effectively missing from view - the so-called 'phantom NEETs' whose current education, employment or training status is not known locally. For readers in the North, this lands close to home. North Lincolnshire Council is singled out as one of the starkest examples, with the authority missing information for nearly half of its 16- and 17-year-olds, showing just how uneven the system has become from one area to the next.

That matters because every youngster who drops off the radar is harder to help back into a classroom, training place or first job. In places where family finances are tight and local services are already stretched, a gap in the data is rarely just an admin problem; it can mean a missed college start, an apprenticeship that never materialises, or support arriving too late. The contrast is sharp. While North Lincolnshire is reporting major holes in the picture, four councils say they know the whereabouts of all their 16- and 17-year-olds. Ministers are calling it a postcode lottery, and on the evidence, that description is difficult to argue with.

Official figures published in March estimated 57,000 16- and 17-year-olds were NEET. Separate participation data also shows a wide spread across the country, with the share of young people in education and apprenticeships ranging from 71.8 per cent to 94.2 per cent. Behind those percentages sit very different local realities - and very different chances of being spotted before a teenager slips out of the system. This is where the story stops being abstract. If one council can keep track of virtually every young person and another cannot, opportunity starts to depend on postcode rather than potential.

The government's immediate response is to press councils harder, while offering new tools. Phillipson is writing to all local authorities setting out expectations on identifying and backing young people at risk of becoming NEET, and 26 councils with the biggest challenges - those unaware of the activities of 3 per cent or more of their teenagers - are being told to agree improvement plans over the next six months. A new Risk of NEET Indicator, or RONI, is being rolled out to councils, pulling together warning signs such as poor attendance, special educational needs, care experience and mental health needs. New guidance is also being issued to schools and colleges so staff can step in earlier when a pupil looks likely to disengage.

Used well, that sort of tracking can make a practical difference. The Department for Education says it could help secure a college place, arrange mental health support or line up taster sessions that pull a young person back towards learning and work. But councils across Northern England will know a tool on its own is not the same as capacity. Spotting risk earlier only counts if there are staff, courses and local opportunities in place once the warning light flashes. Phillipson acknowledges that councils are doing difficult work under real pressure, but says it is not consistent enough. Her broader argument is that the country cannot afford to let a generation drift away from stable work and worthwhile training.

The intervention sits inside a much bigger employment push. Building on Alan Milburn's review of the barriers facing young people, ministers say they are responding to a wider challenge of more than one million young people currently NEET. The government says £2.5 billion will support almost one million young people and help create up to 500,000 chances to earn and learn, including a new £2,000 incentive for small firms taking on a 16- to 24-year-old apprentice. From autumn 2026, the Jobs Guarantee is due to expand to all eligible 18- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit who have been looking for work for 18 months, offering 25 hours a week of fully subsidised paid work for six months alongside wraparound support. Ministers are also piloting automatic enrolment into further education for young people without a confirmed place, expanding T Levels, introducing V Levels and promising a further £3.5 billion by the end of the decade to help those held back by health conditions into work. For the North, the test will be simple enough: whether this reaches the teenagers most likely to be missed before another cohort slips through the cracks.