Employment Support: Young People
Monday, 12 October 2026
Contributions
Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)Labour
6. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment.
Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)Labour
14. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment.
Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)Labour
18. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment.
Luke Murphy (Basingstoke) (Lab)Labour
21. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Pat McFadden)Labour
We have announced an additional £2.5 billion, as part of the youth guarantee, to create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn over the next few years, and we have begun to roll this out across Great Britain. The gateway to the youth guarantee is available in jobcentres. We are expanding youth hubs, we have launched the £3,000 youth jobs grant, and we are rolling out the jobs guarantee for young people who are long-term unemployed. I recently met the first beneficiaries of the jobs guarantee at Boots headquarters in Nottingham and saw the huge difference that having a job made to the young people taking part.
I thank the Minister for Employment for joining me to mark the opening of the Uxbridge job hub a few weeks ago, and I am sure he will join me in thanking the college, the jobcentre, the chamber of commerce and the many others who made it a reality. One group who still experience the biggest employment gap are young people with special educational needs. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that the job hubs, and the youth guarantee offer more broadly, are inclusive of young people with SEND and that they also see the benefits?
I thank my hon. Friend for the campaigning that he has done on this issue, and the Minister for Employment enjoyed cutting the ribbon at the Future Start youth hub a few weeks ago. My hon. Friend is absolutely right in what he says. We need to end the culture of “signed off and written off”, and we want all young people, including those with special educational needs, to benefit from the youth guarantee. That is why youth hubs work closely with our work coaches and disability employment advisers, as well as local partners. The idea is that whatever condition people have, we try to give them the opportunities that are available and help them to live the fullest life.
Just last week, I had the privilege of visiting Derwentside college in my constituency to see the amazing work it does in linking to employers in a range of sectors across the region, ensuring that every qualification offered can lead to real employment opportunities across Durham and the region. From care to construction, there are real opportunities to tackle the issues for young people currently not in education, employment or training. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating the college on the work it does, and will he join me on a visit to see that incredible work in practice?
I am very happy to echo my hon. Friend’s congratulations to Derwentside college on all the work it is doing. With regard to a visit, I will do the best I can. I know that she is a passionate advocate for the college, and if I get an opportunity to visit, I most certainly will.
The Prime Minister hit the nail on the head when he said that too many young people have been failed by a schools system that focused too much “on the university route, and not enough on technical education.” It is not surprising that the number of young people on benefits has grown so significantly when the education system has failed to equip them with the skills they need for today’s jobs market. When I speak to unemployed young people in my constituency, they tell me that they are desperate to find work not just for the pay, but for a sense of purpose and the independence to shape their own future. The choice before us is clear: invest in young people’s success or create a lifetime of dependency, carrying a huge price for the taxpayer. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that we need to invest in young people’s success rather than leave them to languish on benefits?
Yes, I do agree with my hon. Friend. She is absolutely right to say that we need to invest in opportunity and success, and she has spoken admirably about her own life experiences in this House. As I have said, we are putting forward an additional £2.5 billion of investment in the youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy. We have recently announced that we are expanding the jobs guarantee to help eligible young people receiving health-related benefits. They should not be signed off and written off. Another point raised in her question is that too often in these debates, young people are attacked in a negative narrative in which they are described as “snowflakes” and “shirkers”. She is right to say that, given the chance, young people want to work, want to have a full life and do not want to spend it on benefits.
Youth hubs such as that based in Inclusion Education in Basingstoke provide fantastic opportunities for young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn and to work. Could the Secretary of State say a bit more about how youth hubs are helping to deliver the youth guarantee so that young people can realise their potential? Having heard that the Minister for Employment opened the youth hub in Uxbridge, may I ask whether the Secretary of State or the Minister might consider a visit to Basingstoke youth hub to discuss young people’s challenges and opportunities?
When I get back from Derwentside, I will see whether a visit to Basingstoke is popular. Youth hubs are a crucial part of the youth guarantee. They bring together employment and skills, with wider support that often involves housing and health advice. They are an important feature of the Dutch system, where the NEET rate is one third of ours. We are expanding the network to over 360 locations across Great Britain, and the whole idea is to get the help that a jobcentre can provide out of the jobcentre and into the community. There are also other important parts of the youth guarantee, such as hiring bonuses, an extra 300,000 work experience places and a jobs guarantee for the long-term young unemployed.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)Conservative
I recently visited Portugal to observe a NATO exercise using maritime uncrewed systems, and the young man who drove our safety boat had done his apprenticeship at SeaRegs in Plymouth. However, it came to light over the recess that Skills England is consulting to axe the small commercial vessel crewmember level 3 apprenticeship. This 18-year-old did that apprenticeship for the Plymouth Cattewater harbour authority, but he would not have been able to qualify if it had been scrapped. The small enrolment numbers for this course reflect the specialist nature of the industry, not a lack of value. The apprenticeship gives young people in coastal communities such as mine a direct route into skilled jobs that support our national defence. So will the Secretary of State step in and stop this apprenticeship, and others like it that are also being consulted on, being scrapped?
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. Skills England plays an important role in accrediting approved apprenticeships, looking at demand and quality, and I am sure it has heard the representations she has made. The overall direction of travel that we have given to Skills England is intended to ensure that we have more youth apprenticeship starts in future, because that is where the need is greatest and where the public expect us to be investing the growth and skills levy to create the most opportunity that can change the most lives.
Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)Liberal Democrat
Last week I visited several successful marine businesses at Noss on Dart. They are struggling to find the crew needed for work boats that support the wider maritime sector. Following on from the question by my neighbour, the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith), with the funding for commercial vessel apprenticeships now threatened, the route for young people to enter this sector and find well-paid, year-round permanent employment in coastal communities will potentially be closed off. Will the Secretary of State commit to continue that funding? These specialised apprenticeships may not have the same take-up as nationwide apprenticeships, but they are vital to economic growth in coastal communities such as South Devon.
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. As I said to the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) a moment ago, Skills England will always look at the range of courses available and will always consider accreditation. I am sure it will have heard the representations that she has made.
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)Conservative
The Secretary of State talks about jobs hubs. May I gently say to him that the best jobs hub of all is a business that is expanding and that the best youth hub of all is a business taking on apprentices? He mentions a wide range of schemes to try to get young people back into work. In The Wrekin, youth unemployment has risen by 27.8% in the last 12 months alone. A lot of the schemes are in urban areas. What is he going to do for my young constituents who live in rural and semi-rural counties such as Shropshire?
The right hon. Gentleman is right to emphasise the importance of jobs. That is why he will be pleased to know that there are 243,000 more people in work than at this time last year. He will also be pleased to know that the employment rate in the UK is higher today than in all but one of the 14 years when his party was in power. He will be pleased a third time to know that economic inactivity is down by 367,000 since the last election.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)Plaid Cymru
If we want to support young people into employment, we must address the barriers they face long before they enter the workplace. One is child poverty, which is why the Plaid Cymru Government will pilot the Cynnal payment. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the £10 a week payment for children in households receiving universal credit will be disregarded for benefit purposes?
We made a major change on this front last year, when we abolished the two-child limit. That, together with other elements in the child poverty strategy, is estimated to bring down child poverty by about half a million over the course of this Parliament. That is an important step towards children being able to live the fullest life possible. Children who are poor can also suffer from worse education results and worse mental health later in life, so this is not just an anti-poverty measure; it is a pro-opportunity measure too.
Mr SpeakerSpeaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Helen Whately (Faversham and Mid Kent) (Con)Conservative
Every DWP Question Time, Labour Members dutifully line up to give the welfare Secretary a chance to make it look like he is doing something about the youth unemployment crisis—a crisis of their own making. Their jobs tax and their unemployment Act have killed 300,000 jobs, hitting young people hardest. We have had enough talk about hubs and schemes. Young people tell me they want real jobs. That is why we will halve national insurance for 21 to 24-year-olds, so it is cheaper for businesses to hire them. Under the Conservatives, there will be thousands more jobs for young people. Will the Secretary of State get the Chancellor to use his Budget to do the same?
I remind the hon. Lady that, under her Government, the number of young people not in employment, education or training went up by a quarter of a million in the two years before the last election. As I said to the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard), there are now 243,000 more people in work than at this time last year. The employment rate in the UK today is higher than in every year but one of the Conservatives’ 14 years in power. The UK had the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. I will tell the hon. Lady what could threaten that: a bunch of unfunded tax cuts from the Opposition. We know where that ends up—we saw the movie a few years ago—so I advise her not to repeat it.
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)Liberal Democrat
The Government recently announced funding for apprenticeships through areas where there are elected mayors. However, almost half of England does not have an elected mayor. Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that young people in communities such as Torbay, and across Devon and Cornwall, will feel that the Government have turned their backs on them?
The hon. Member is right to say that the devolution map in England is uneven. I urge him to wait for the White Paper later this year, when we will have more to say about that. However, we believe that locally delivered services in employment support can break down the departmental barriers that have too often dogged getting the right help to people at the right time. People are human beings, not departmental clients, and it is time we treated them as such. Delivering more services locally can help us do that.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5413429.