Members will have seen extracts from the speech given by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, in which he claimed that 'All our studies show the backward thinking in careers advice; they see a young girl come through the door and think: caring, nursing, teaching'.
Chris Evans, working with Council members Mario Kyriacou, Andrea Allgood and Gordon Kirk challenged the Mayor's claims and has received the following in response -
Dear Mr Evans
Thank you for your email on careers advice, which has been passed to me for a response.
The Mayor would be disappointed if your members have interpreted his comments in the way you have described. The Mayor would like to confirm that he does value the work of professional career advisors and your members' commitment to the promotion of best practice and delivery of high quality guidance services. He particularly appreciates the work carried out by your London-based members for young people in the capital, and is also aware of the resource and organisational constraints on the way their work is delivered.
The Mayor believes it was right to highlight the need for significant improvements to the current system of career advice and support and his views which were intended to generally describe the arrangements that are currently failing young people, covered the role of a range of agencies and professionals involved helping young people when they assess career options i.e. teachers, youth workers, the media etc. I have set out below the links to two recent research publications, that support the points made by the Mayor, and attach the relevant extracts from each report for your convenience.
These issues will be considered through the London Skills and Employment Board's new strategy for London , which is currently being drafted, and is expected to be published for consultation this autumn. You may want to comment further on the proposals that are put forward in that draft strategy.
Regrettably the Mayor is unable to meet with you on this occasion but I hope this reply will help to assure your members of the Mayor's appreciation of the contribution made by professional careers advisors.
Thank you for writing to the Mayor.
Yours sincerely,
Azadur Rahman
Economic Development
http://www.lda.gov.uk/upload/doc/Science_Technology_Engineering_and_Mathematics_(STEM)_Report.DOC
http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/summary/summary.php?id=437
The Institute has once again challenged the conclusions reached by the Mayor on such selective research and directed the Mayor's office to alternative sources; we will continue to seek a meeting with the Mayor. If any London based members wish to be kept in touch with developments please contact Rebecca Goodman at | 
