Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 1 June 2026

Debate

Contribution

My Lords, 42 years on, I remind the House of my noble friend’s statistic that there are over 1 million NEETs at the moment. How depressing is that? To follow on from my noble friend’s question, retail and hospitality are often young people’s first chance to enter the labour market, yet these are the sectors being hit hardest by the Government’s own policies. In April this year, the BRC, UKHospitality and the Food and Drink Federation, among others, sent a joint letter to Peter Kyle warning him that an inflexible guaranteed hours regime could mean an end to flexible roles altogether. They urged the Government to raise the reference period from 12 weeks to at least six months and to set the low-hours contract to eight hours. Will the Minister commit to listening to business and making these changes?

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