Every young person I meet wants the same thing: a chance.

A first job. A wage of their own. The confidence that comes from being trusted, learning new skills and making a contribution.

Sadly, too many young people are being denied that opportunity. When I last wrote about this in the Herald, the number of young people claiming unemployment benefits in our community had risen by 30 percent in a year. Nationally, youth unemployment has reached 16.4 percent, while more than one million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training.

Behind every number is a young person sending off application after application and hearing nothing back, or a school leaver who once might have found a Saturday job in a shop or pub in Farnham, Bordon, Haslemere or Liphook, but now finds those opportunities harder to come by.

The evidence is clear: time out of work at the start of adult life can have long-lasting consequences, with people earning less even decades later.

Local employers tell me they want to take on young people. What often prevents them is cost. That is why the Conservatives have announced plans to halve employer National Insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, reducing it from 15 percent to 7.5 percent.

At the moment, businesses face a sharp increase in costs when a young person turns 21, as they reach the full adult minimum wage and employer National Insurance threshold at the same time. Our plan would make employing a 21 to 24-year-old full-time on the minimum wage around £1,500 cheaper each year, with the reduction delivered automatically through payroll.

But helping businesses hire is only half the answer. Young people also need the right support to get their first foothold in work.

That is why we have set out plans to replace Universal Credit for under-25s leaving education with a new Get to Work programme. Every young person would have a dedicated manager focused on helping them into employment. In return for their allowance, they would take part in work experience, training, interview preparation or community placements, building the skills employers are looking for.

Those who complete the programme would receive a Ready for Work Award, recognising the skills and experience they have gained. Young people whose disabilities mean they cannot work would be exempt.

Critics will describe this as demanding too much. I see it differently. Believing in young people means believing they deserve support, encouragement and the chance to succeed.

Leaving people to drift without opportunities is a failure of ambition.

Labour's jobs tax has made it harder for businesses to take on young people at exactly the time they need opportunities most. The Conservatives have a plan to reverse that: making it cheaper to employ young people and ensuring they have the skills, experience and confidence to take those opportunities.