Lord Ravensdale (CB)

My Lords, for now, I am going to steer us away from transport and on to a no less important topic: social mobility. I thank the noble Lords who have signed these amendments and the Social Mobility Commission, with which I worked to develop them. Social mobility has been a continued focus over the years across all Governments. All noble Lords would agree, I think, that a person’s life chances should not be prescribed by their backgrounds—either their place of birth or their family—and that all should be allowed to develop their talents and interests through education and work. It is to the benefit of individuals, society and the economy that opportunities are open to all. We have made progress here in recent years. A school friend of mine in Nottingham skipped A-levels and went on to do an apprenticeship at Mercedes-Benz as a car mechanic. He told me that, when one of his teachers heard that he was applying for an apprenticeship, he told him that he would never amount to anything. My friend is now a director of a company that runs a network of garages across the Midlands and is a great example of social mobility. Of course, anyone can point to a story about someone who has defied the odds and succeeded, but I tell this story because it illustrates progress in that the perception of apprenticeships has completely changed; they are now seen the best way to go for many young people. However, there are some concerning trends in social mobility. In particular, relative income mobility in the UK—the strength of the link between parents’ income and their children’s income—is poor when compared internationally. We consistently rank near the USA among the least mobile developed nations. So social mobility needs continued focus from the Government, as they have recognised through their opportunity mission. I submitted the successful special inquiry proposal for what became the Social Mobility Policy Committee, which has now reported. One of the key areas we looked at was the regional nature of social mobility; indeed, the report is entitled Social Mobility: Local Routes, Lasting Change. It is all about the move away from a top-down view of social mobility—looking at, for example, broad educational initiatives or early years—to recognising that each area has its own unique determinants and that, therefore, a regional and local approach is needed to drive mobility and improve things. The Social Mobility Commission highlighted this in its recent State of the Nation report, highlighting the facts that prosperous areas in London and the surrounding regions consistently provide better conditions for social mobility than, for example, the Midlands and the north; and that extreme regional differences persist. One of the key issues is where leadership lies. Initiatives to tackle barriers to social mobility are not one size fits all; they must be built with an understanding of the characteristics of the particular area. The Government need to ensure that local authorities and partners are empowered to lead and to come up with the right policies for their areas. Where does that lead us? In the Bill, there is an excellent opportunity for the Government to ensure that social mobility is embedded in their approach to devolution. It is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to change how local authorities and strategic authorities deliver on this long-standing problem and enable a step change in progress to deliver opportunity for all.