Councils and schools urged to do more as figures show there is no information on whereabouts of 32,100 ‘Neets’

The government has urged councils and schools in England to drastically improve the way they identify young people at risk of dropping out of training and work, as it admitted thousands are unaccounted for.

Publishing official figures on Thursday, the government said councils had no information on the whereabouts of 32,100 young people aged 16 to 17 who were not in education, employment or training (Neet).