Westminster Hall
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Priorities for Water Sector Reform
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This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Emma Lewell (in the Chair)
We begin with the Select Committee statement. Helena Dollimore will speak about the publication of the second report of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, “Priorities for water sector reform”, for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions can be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call other Members to put questions on the subject of the statement and call Helena Dollimore to respond to those in turn. Questions should be brief, and Members may ask only one question each.
Helena Dollimore (Hastings and Rye) (Lab/Co-op)
Thank you, Ms Lewell. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for me to make a statement on behalf of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee about our second report of this Parliament. The report is entitled “Priorities for water sector reform”, and it is intended to be the first in a long-term inquiry into reforming our water sector. We will continue to return to this subject throughout the Parliament, as we know how important it is.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made reform of the water sector one of his five core priorities. Sir Jon Cunliffe was appointed by him to lead an independent review of the sector and to make recommendations. Unusually, therefore, our report does not make recommendations to the Government but to Sir Jon himself. It is intended to feed into the work of the Independent Water Commission.
Over the past six months, we have been wading into the water industry and its many problems. Before I come to our findings, I want to thank my fellow Committee members, the Committee staff and the Chair for their hard work in getting this report over the line. Most of all, I thank the campaigners across the country who have helped to expose what is happening in our water industry.
The story of what has happened in the water sector in this country reads a bit like the film “Erin Brockovich”—individuals who care about the state of their sea or their local river, going out to test the water only to find shocking levels of sewage pollution. A shocking number of them have then ended up having to go to court to find out the truth of what is happening. The seas, rivers and waterways of a whole country have been desecrated. In my own constituency, in Hastings, Rye and the villages, we have been at the sharp end of this crisis, suffering at the hands of Southern Water.
In our inquiry, we tried to take the public’s questions to the water bosses, to channel that anger into seeking answers about how we solve the crisis and about how we got here. We hauled in the water bosses one by one, and heard story after story of corporate failure, environmental degradation and a lack of accountability. The boss of Thames Water explained why it put 98 critical infrastructure projects back, instead spending that money on dividends rather than fixing broken pipes. Some companies, including Thames, are now struggling to stay afloat, thanks to the previously high levels of dividends extracted from the companies. That should never have been allowed to happen.
We heard about serious failings during major incidents in which the public were abandoned. In Brixham, during a cryptosporidium outbreak, while residents lay in hospital from drinking the water, the boss of South West Water, Susan Davy, was missing in action. She could not explain why she refused interviews with the media during the crisis.
We grilled the boss of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, about major incidents in my own constituency, when residents in Hastings and Rye were left without water for up to eight days. Proper provisions were not made during that time for residents, and communication was seriously lacking. In the Hastings water outage, Southern Water initially refused to cough up any compensation. After I grilled him about it in Committee, the chief executive agreed to reverse the decision and pay compensation. Our Committee has taken the learnings from such incidents to recommend that we have a clear set of guidelines to say what people can reasonably expect from the water companies during a major water outage—such as providing portaloos, showering facilities or food provision as the crisis goes on.
One water boss after another justified taking an eye-watering bonus while presiding over serious failure. They were always quick to justify the need for bonus cheques to deliver good performance, but had no answers for us about why their bonuses were 150%, while the lowest-paid frontline workers out repairing pipes and leaky mains got just 3% or 5%. Bonuses going up while sewage pollution incidents increase—the Committee is not sure how that meets the definition of performance-related pay.
At the heart of the issue is a perception that the water companies are prioritising profits over people and the planet. We found that the current structure of these companies is dominated by private equity and opaque financial arrangements that have been used to take debt to unsustainable levels. Some companies have clearly been bought by irresponsible owners who have prioritised shareholder returns over long-term investment and environmental stewardship.
We were also disturbed by how much of our water industry—a whopping 70%—is in foreign ownership, often that of countries regarded as hostile to the UK. Is it really in the UK’s national interest to have water, a critical piece of infrastructure, in the hands of our adversaries? Major changes are needed to bring about a fundamental shift in leadership. The sector is deaf to the crisis it faces. Vetting or vetoing of owners could be a first step.
We also believe that the commission and the Government should be open-minded about different ownership models. As well as publicly and privately owned businesses, options include not-for-profit enterprises, community interest companies, co-operatives and hybrid approaches. Regardless of the approach taken, other factors may need to be considered, such as the power to vet owners—a power that Ofwat does not currently hold. The commission should conduct a serious analysis of whether alternatives could bring about a culture that is better focused on public service, transparency and accountability.
We know that there is also a need for other changes. The report calls for tighter regulation of financial practices, including limits on debt gearing levels, better oversight over complex business structures and greater scrutiny of dividend policies. We also want to see changes in the regulatory environment, which is too complex and too ineffective. Regulators such as Ofwat have been found asleep at the wheel during the crisis, too often focused on processes instead of outcomes. The rise in pollution incidents shows that regulators need better resources and powers to properly monitor the environment and enforce environmental protections.
The price review process is not working either. Our Committee found that it must be reformed or replaced to better serve the interests of customers and the environment. It has failed to support the necessary investment in the sector and to maintain or improve the resilience of assets, and has allowed money to be siphoned off into bonuses and dividends instead of spent fixing broken infrastructure.
The sector and the regulators have woken up too late to the need for investment in that broken infrastructure, and customers are now bearing the brunt of a huge increase in bills that should have been spread over a longer period. It is the most vulnerable households that will suffer. We welcome the Government’s commitment to introduce a better single social tariff to protect those households and urge them to move quickly in introducing it.
This week, we took evidence from Sir Jon Cunliffe, and impressed on him the importance of seeking fundamental reform of a sector that is failing. This is a time not for tinkering around the edges, but for bold action to meet the expectations of people across this country. This report should serve as a wake-up call and a stark reminder of the challenges in our water sector. It is the first step in a long-term inquiry, but our message is clear: the water sector must change.
We welcome the efforts recently made by the Government and Ofwat to tackle some of the problems of governance, bonuses and financial mismanagement, including the recent announcement of a ban on bonuses for overseeing failure thanks to the new powers introduced in the recent Water (Special Measures) Act 2025. However, we urge the Government to go further. We need a system that puts people before profits, protects our rivers and seas and earns the trust of the public. Let us not waste this opportunity—let us build a water sector that is transparent, accountable and fit for the future.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for that comprehensive overview of what is a really impressive piece of work by the EFRA Committee. It is shocking, but my Hazel Grove constituents will not be surprised, because they are subjected to United Utilities dumping sewage in the rivers Goyt, Tame and Mersey.
Could I press the hon. Member for a little bit more information? She mentions the open-mindedness of the Committee when it comes to ownership models of water companies, but I wonder how open-minded it is when it comes to the regulator. She talked in her remarks about improving resources and extending powers, but does she agree that scrapping Ofwat and starting again with a new regulator would be part of the solution?
Helena Dollimore
I thank the hon. Member for that important question. On the Committee, we heard about the failures of United Utilities in her constituency and other places that it is meant to serve properly.
We found that, at the moment, we have a very complex regulatory regime that does not serve anyone well. There is a lot of confusion about who is responsible for what, in the sector and among consumers. People do not know where to go when things go wrong—that is not clearly enough understood. We feel that there could be a much simpler, clearer regulatory regime, which needs more powers and also more resources to do the job properly.
Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) for the work that we did together on this report in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. As she will know, I represent a Welsh seat in Mid and South Pembrokeshire. Welsh Water’s not-for-profit model avoids dividends and maintains a low gearing level of 60.4%, but that has not stopped it from having more spills and longer spill durations than those in England. On top of that, there is poor performance on enforcement and we have an asset renewal rate of 0.09% from 2020 to 2025. Does my hon. Friend agree that in terms of the radical need for renewal to regain public trust and confidence in the sector, this goes far beyond simply changing ownership models? Change must be right across the piece.
Helena Dollimore
Absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend for his work on the Committee, and for his questioning of the boss of Welsh Water about many of these issues. He is right that at the moment all the indicators are going in the wrong direction on debt gearing and on the structures these companies use, all while sewage dumping incidents are, too often, increasing. In the report, we have called for limits on debt gearing levels, better oversight of the complex business structures that even the water bosses in front of our Committee did not seem to understand and were not able to explain, and greater scrutiny of dividend policies.
Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) not only for leading this statement but for her forensic and passionate scrutiny of water companies as part of this inquiry. It has been a real pleasure to sit with her on the Committee.
Whether it is billpayers or citizen scientists, as a Committee we heard story after story of the people whom water companies are there to serve being disregarded or even subject to legal action. We know that the terms of Sir Jon Cunliffe’s review rule out public ownership, but we also know that disgraceful behaviour in private, often foreign-owned, water companies has been rampant, and has ignored the fact that water is an essential public service. Does my hon. Friend agree that co-operative and mutual principles, which she and I both champion, should be fully explored as they could resolve so many of the issues that our inquiry has uncovered?
Helena Dollimore
Absolutely; I thank my hon. Friend for that point. He and I are both Labour and Co-operative Members of Parliament. We believe in the strong potential of that model. The Committee report urges the commission to look very closely at the potential benefits of community interest companies, co-operative models or other approaches. My hon. Friend is right that that could be a good way of looking at the change we need in the water industry.
Backbench Business
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Social Mobility: Careers Education
(1 day, 18 hours ago)
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Andrew Ranger (Wrexham) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the role of careers education in improving social mobility.
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Lewell, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for providing time for this debate. The term “social mobility” is used widely and in many contexts, but it is worth setting out what it means. The Social Mobility Commission defines it as
“the link between a person’s occupation or income and the occupation or income of their parents.”
Where there is a strong link, there is a lower level of social mobility; where there is a weak link, there is a higher level.
For a long time, the focus often centred on moving a select few from the bottom to the top, but there is now a move from a one-size-fits-all model to a broader view of distinct kinds of social mobility, sometimes over shorter distances for a greater number of people. That means not only focusing on, for example, those with the top grades getting into elite universities and then moving to London to work for a top accountancy or law firm, but celebrating the children of parents who were long-term unemployed growing up and getting jobs in their local area.
Such short-range mobility is equally important and should be encouraged, which is why the time is right for a renewed conversation about the role that careers education can play. Over time, we have developed a framework of careers education in our classrooms, but the framework is there to be challenged and improved on, and I look forward to debating it further today.
A report released towards the end of 2024 by the Office for National Statistics showed that around 872,000 young people aged between 16 and 24—about 12% of them—were not in education, employment or training. In many cases, that is not because young people are not willing or do not want to work, but because they perhaps lack the opportunities or support to pursue it. Evidence shows that the earlier the intervention we can make in a young person’s life, the greater chance their chance of succeeding.
Students who are on free school meals are less likely to move into work, education or an apprenticeship when compared with their peers. Part of the reason for that is unequal access to the information and guidance that enable young people to develop their ambitions and make informed choices in relation to their studies. Those from lower social and economic backgrounds are less likely to feel career ready, less confident talking about their skills in job applications and do not always have the support at home and elsewhere to make crucial and important decisions about their own futures.
Crucial skills for job applications—which are too often not talked about, but make a significant difference—include effective communication, problem solving, the ability to plan and adapt, leadership and effective teamwork. These skills, sometimes referred to as soft skills, are often taken for granted, but the reality on the ground tells us a much different story. A National Foundation for Educational Research study found that by 2035 up to 7 million workers may lack the essential skills they need to do their jobs.
Almost 90% of the 2.2 million new jobs that are expected to be created between 2020 and 2035 are set to be in the professional sector. We need to send school leavers out with the mindset that these skills are just as important as their technical or academic qualifications, and just as crucial when it comes to progression in their chosen profession. It is therefore vital that when it comes to careers education, we seek to ensure that soft skills education becomes common practice in educational institutions and other environments across the UK. As suggested by the Skills Builder Partnership, we could look to achieve that by adopting a common language for essential skills and introducing a national standardised framework for teaching and assessing them, starting at a younger age and with clear milestones. We want all our young people to have ambition in abundance, but ambition is too often frustrated not by talent or ability but by a postcode or someone’s background.
When we think of careers education, including our own experiences, we are probably more likely to remember it as being part of our secondary or further education, but it is increasingly clear that attitudes towards ambition and achievement are often set much earlier—at primary-school age or sometimes before. Evidence also tells us that children begin to form ideas about their futures when they are as young as five or six. By the age of 10, many young people have already made career-limiting decisions, which can be set in stone by the age of 14.
When asked as part of the covid, social mobility and opportunities survey, 16 and 17-year-olds from low-income or “never worked” households were more likely to agree that people like them do not have much of a chance in life, particularly when their household net income was £19,000 or less. The Social Mobility Foundation found that parents and their social networks are the key source of careers advice for 76% of young people. As it rightly said, such reliance on parental support risks replicating existing networks and employment structures. The parents and their individual networks are more likely to have sector knowledge, therefore making parent-child career replication far more likely.
The issue is further compounded by geography. Rural areas are less likely to have the same diversity of employers and sectors as cities, reducing opportunity and crucial interactions that can have an incredible impact in broadening horizons.
One part of the solution can be found in Wales, where careers and work-related experiences—known as CWRE—cut across the curriculum for students from the age of three up to 18. The aim is to ensure that, from the offset, children develop the attitudes and behaviours that support them in overcoming barriers related to employability. The Rofft primary school in Wrexham reported that it supported the development of children’s self-growth, confidence and employability skills, as well as authentic, purposeful, world-of-work experiences.
It is very welcome that in their “Get Britain Working” White Paper the Government have set out a vision for a youth guarantee that includes an entitlement to two weeks, or 15 hours, of work experience for all school and college students. However, we must ensure that with quantity comes quality, and that work experience is both worth while and impactful for every young person’s prospects. One way to ensure that could be through a national platform for work experience that enables virtual opportunities, and allows schools to select opportunities that fit the needs of their pupils, removing a large part of the administrative burden that can so often emerge.
Funding is, of course, also crucial. When asked, almost half of schoolteachers in the state sector said they wished to see more resource and funding allocated to careers guidance in schools. Notably, there was recognition of the need for remuneration for those who work as career leaders, to give them more time to focus on that work. Private schools are estimated to invest up to four times more in careers education than the state sector. If we do not act and take practical steps to close that gap, we risk further educational divides and entrenching low social mobility outcomes.
I have spoken about work experience in the school years, but it is also important to look at what it can offer to young people for whom, for whatever reason, education may not have worked, or who have fallen through gaps. WeMindTheGap, which is based in Wrexham, works with people aged between 16 and 25 in north-east Wales and north-west England. Known as “gappies”, those taking part engage in an 18-month fully-funded programme that offers work placements, including a paid six-month placement, and a mentor who is with them every step of the way. The results and effects on young people’s lives have been transformational.
I have some testimony from people who have been through the programme. The transformation is clear in what they have experienced. Vicky finished college and had been on jobseeker’s allowance for nearly a year when an adviser suggested the programme. Vicky spoke of being shy and withdrawn, and of her life not having focus. She said:
“Going for interviews then, I never heard anything back”,
but by the end of the programme
“I was far more outgoing and could not stop talking, thanks to all the support I received from the charity. I enjoyed all my placements, especially the Ramada Plaza Hotel. I got a job at the end of the programme, but the biggest change was that I started to draw again. I did a placement at Glyndwr University, who took me to their Art Department. Laura”—
one of the mentors—
“encouraged me to show them my drawings. After all these years of being told I cannot draw I found that people like what I do, and people call it a talent.”
Sophie was 16 and found herself living in a hostel in Wrexham. Her supporter at the hostel said that she should apply for the programme at WeMindTheGap. Sophie said:
“Looking back, I must have been horrible. If I did not like doing something I would say so, loudly; if things went wrong for me, I did not know how to try again. I liked all my placements, but my favourite part of the week was Essential Skills. We always started with a maths quiz, and I would win easily. I had GCSE maths and Pam helped me think about getting more qualifications. I asked the team to help me apply for an Apprenticeship in a Bank or Finance office because even I realised I was good at numbers.
“I got nervous at the end of the programme about leaving but Laura and Diana said they would still be there for me. I had no other work experience and I was just 18 and it was hard getting a job. All the other gappies on my course got something and I felt if I wasn’t careful, I could slip back into my old habits. So, I asked if I could come into Moneypenny and volunteer over Christmas. I had so much fun and loved being part of the team. Diane told the Finance Director how good at numbers I was and after a couple of months, I was offered a permanent contract! Diane got in touch with Coleg Cambria and got me on an Apprenticeship accountancy course to help me alongside.
“I am Moneypenny’s first Finance Apprentice. I completed my course in June 2019. I work 4.5 days in the busy finance team and am responsible for looking after client accounts, reconciliations, and debt recovery. I have a much better relationship with my family —they are proud of me. I’ve also been on my first holiday abroad. I participate in We Belong sessions, I love meeting new gappies.”
Those are but a few of many success stories from that one body doing that work, but there is a wider general message: if we meet young people where they are, recognising their circumstances and their hopes and aspirations, we give them a greater chance to succeed. Fewer than one in five 16 to 21-year-olds feel that they have had sufficient guidance, so there is a clear need to rethink how we support young people during those pivotal years. Rather than expecting them to navigate an often complex and unequal system alone, we need to invest in personalised, compassionate guidance that acknowledges their lived experiences. This means more than just providing opportunities: it means building trust, offering consistent mentorship, and creating environments where every young person feels seen, heard and believed in.
To summarise, there is a lot to be proud of when it comes to careers education, including the fantastic work being done by careers leaders in schools to guide young people, and the many organisations opening doors and broadening horizons. It really has come a long way but, none the less, we still need to be more ambitious. I have set out a few areas in which I believe we can be, and I look forward to hearing colleagues’ contributions. One of this Government’s overarching aims is to break down the barriers to opportunity; let us be ambitious and put careers education at the heart of achieving that and improving social mobility.
Emma Lewell (in the Chair)
I remind Members that if they wish to be called, they should bob. I am imposing an informal four-minute time limit.
Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)
It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for introducing this important debate, and I welcome the thoughtful contributions that we are about to hear from across the Chamber. I make my speech within the context of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
This discussion about careers education could not be more timely, with almost 1 million young people in the UK currently not in education, employment or training, and our universities facing unprecedented challenges. I am therefore grateful for the opportunity to speak on this subject. It is deeply concerning, as we have heard already, that children eligible for free school meals are 20% less likely to progress into higher education. Shockingly, in Scotland, a total of 1,351 pupils—enough to fill an entire school—left school last year without a single qualification. Even for those who reach university, funding has been reduced since 2013. University student funding in Scotland has seen a real terms cut of 22%, and as my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham rightly highlighted in opening the debate, many of our young people are also being let down within that context.
We all recognise the transformative power of education in creating equality of opportunity, yet in recent years it feels like that has faltered. Too many young people are not receiving the skills training and support that they need to navigate a rapidly evolving job market. Addressing that requires targeted investment in left-behind communities, focusing support—as we have heard—on lower-income families and reforms to ensure that our service delivery achieves the best possible outcomes for children of all backgrounds. One key avenue for achieving that is through careers education. It plays a vital role in improving social mobility by equipping young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with the knowledge, skills and social capital needed to better access opportunities.
Having spent 24 years as a professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, I have seen at first hand the life-changing impact of education—I have also seen students arrive at university who were born after I started working there, but that is a secondary issue. I have also witnessed growing barriers to social mobility and shrinking opportunities for young people in Scotland. Too often, the most disadvantaged bear the brunt of underfunding in the sector. That makes high-quality careers education all the more essential, so that every young person can make the most of the opportunities available for them. It is so much harder for disadvantaged kids to repeat a year or start again, so it is important that we get it right for them first time.
I worry, however, that the budgets for those services will be squeezed in the funding crisis that universities face across the UK, but particularly in Scotland. If we are serious about economic growth, we cannot let that happen. I have seen careers advisers doing exceptional work in that space. They recognise that, while every student has potential, not all have access to the networks and opportunities needed to realise it. A report from the Behavioural Insights Team in 2021 noted that many ambitious pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are held back by “career confusion”, whereby the students do not undertake the qualifications required for their chosen career path. It is clear that those students do not lack aspiration or even aptitude, but they have been let down by a lack of support.
Not only does that hold back pupils and their aspirations; it further exacerbates the social inequalities that we see right across the UK, as young people from more advantaged backgrounds often have better access to informal networks of career advice, which their less advantaged peers do not. Career advisers, and all of us, have a duty to ensure that every young person, regardless of their background, can progress to a positive destination and thrive in work and life. In partnership with employers, they deliver structured and impactful support. It is not just about writing a CV or finding a job; it is also about building confidence, enhancing social capital, and defining and enhancing essential workplace skills, and good careers advisers understand the difference between finding a job and starting a career.
Careers advice needs to inform educational choices, not just respond to them. We often speak in this House about the need to strengthen higher education and expand pathways for young people, including apprenticeships and vocational training, which we heard about in today’s statement. However, we speak far less about the support our young people need to make informed career choices in the first place. As the Government have rightly stated, breaking down barriers to opportunity is not a challenge for tomorrow; it is a priority for today. I therefore welcome the £3 billion investment in skills and training, but we have to make sure that our young people can take advantage of that through good careers advice.
It is particularly important that we are talking about this issue today, as the UK is facing a skills shortage that it is estimated will cost the country £120 billion by 2030. At the same time, ONS data shows that 872,000 young people are out of work, education and training. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham for bringing this important debate to the House. His work highlights the urgent need to invest in proper training, education and support for young people. For their sake and for the future of our economy, I hope the Government continue to act on the issues raised.
Emma Lewell (in the Chair)
We will now have a formal three-minute time limit.
Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell.
In my constituency of Tiverton and Minehead, we have almost no sixth-form provision, with the exception of a small number of places at Petroc college in Tiverton and West Somerset college in Minehead. At the crucial juncture of 16 to 18, when most people will begin to look ahead at future career paths, my younger constituents are in the unenviable situation of lacking access to conventional careers guidance. Instead, they have to travel long distances, often entirely at the mercy of the quirks of an unreliable and insufficient public transport network. There are very high levels of socioeconomic deprivation in my constituency, particularly along the coastal belt of west Somerset, which is 324th out of the 324 areas of England on the social mobility index. There are very few options to attend post-16 education, and the transport system is underdeveloped and unreliable. That is hardly a recipe for improving social mobility.
The recently launched Ada in Porlock community initiative looks to propel young people with potential, particularly those of lower socioeconomic status, into careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. The initiative seeks to reimagine careers support by providing resource-rich guidance and a pathway into dynamic networks of opportunity and mentorship. At its recent launch, I was inspired by the project, which is named after Ada Lovelace, who created the first computing system in 1844, more than 100 years before Alan Turing. It will act as a stimulus for my many talented young constituents, especially young women. As their MP, my message to all my constituents is: think big, dream big and always aspire to be the best person you can be. They can rely on me to do my best to help to make it happen.
Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for bringing this really important debate to the House.
Growing up in Salford, I saw how regional inequality limits opportunity. My journey to Parliament involved luck and being in the right place at the right time, but opportunity should never be a lottery. As the MP for Leigh and Atherton, I am proud to serve in a Government where 92% of the Cabinet is state educated, yet background still shapes outcomes. Too often, talent is overlooked because someone did not attend the right school or speak with the right accent. Professionals from working-class backgrounds still face a pay gap. That is not just unfair; it is a drag on our economy.
Careers education is vital, but we must look beyond the classroom. Leigh ranks in the top 1% for transport-related social exclusion. Poor connectivity limits access to jobs, education and services, trapping people in poverty.
Education alone is not enough. Systemic barriers such as financial constraints, discrimination and limited mobility continue to hold people back. Although 81% of employers value outreach, more must be done. Expanding free school meals for families on universal credit is a huge step forward, but a degree no longer guarantees success. Apprenticeships, internships and work experience are now essential. I served my time on an apprenticeship, which got me a fantastic career in marketing, so I cannot promote them enough—they are a vital part of social mobility. Initiatives such as the MBacc in Greater Manchester are helping to unlock local talent and boost productivity.
Improving social mobility could add £1.8 billion to the UK’s business profits annually. Failing to act costs us £19 billion a year. Last week, I hosted the launch of the Social Mobility Alliance in Parliament, and one voice stood out: Salma from Sheffield, an Oxford student who spoke about the hidden financial barriers to university applications.
Opportunity must be built into the fabric of our society, not left to chance. If we want to unlock the full potential of our communities, we must tackle child poverty and ensure that every young person, regardless of background, can thrive.
Mr Richard Quigley (Isle of Wight West) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on securing the debate.
Social mobility is the backbone of this country, as the Leader of the Opposition knows from her short stint in a McDonald’s one summer. Although Members on opposite sides of the House might disagree about how to facilitate social mobility, we all agree that every child should have the opportunity to realise their full potential.
Some children grow up knowing precisely what they want from life and precisely how to get it. Most children, however, grow up with some idea of their direction but little clue about what their ultimate destination could be or, more importantly, how to get there. Careers education provides two opportunities: to broaden children’s horizons by providing career guidance and to allow children to experience their desired careers at first hand through work experience placements.
On the first point, a study by the Sutton Trust found that parents, friends and wider social networks are the main source of careers education for more than three quarters of young people, but a child from a working-class family may have never met a barrister, an engineer or a scientist. They may not even know those professions exist, let alone understand the pathways to reach them. On the island, the assumption is that tourism is the only career; it is not. It is for those children that careers education is most crucial, but the unfortunate reality is that they are the least likely to have access to it.
Equipping schools to showcase the full range of possible careers to secondary school students will be pivotal. We should all welcome the 1,000 careers advisers that the Labour Government will recruit, as well as the additional £1.2 billion per year that the Government will invest in skills by 2028-29.
Isle of Wight West is home to many fantastic businesses that provide high-quality jobs for islanders, particularly in engineering, manufacturing and defence. My team and I work closely with a number of local employers, including BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, Isle of Wight Tomatoes and Vestas. I wholeheartedly welcome the contributions of large companies to the island. However, it is also true that 99.8% of businesses on the Isle of Wight are classed as small and medium-sized enterprises. Research by the Edge Foundation shows that SMEs are typically far more hesitant to offer work experiences, not due to a lack of willingness but due to limited time and resources, which prevents them from tackling the logistics of arranging work experience placements.
The Edge Foundation recognises the crucial role that SME brokerages play. I want to put on record some of the excellent work that Isle of Wight organisations are doing, particularly the Solent Careers Hub, the Isle of Wight Youth Trust and Island Careers Partnership, which are working in concert with careers advisers and businesses across the island. Those organisations are absolutely crucial to opening doors to SMEs. I am pleased to say that a youth partnership event will be taking place in Newport on 1 July. It will be an important chance to get Isle of Wight students and SMEs in the same room.
A working-class child from the Isle of Wight may never have met a scientist, but they could go on to become a great one. It is our responsibility to ensure that every child has that opportunity.
Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this important debate. I associate myself with many of the comments made by other hon. Members.
Given the time limit, I will focus my remarks on the creative industries. The creative industries will be highlighted in the Government’s industrial strategy, which will be coming forward soon, and they have huge potential—particularly for my constituents in north Wales. We have a brand-new creative industries hub, which has been launched by Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, and new film studios on Ynys Môn. The new series of “Game of Thrones” is being filmed nearby. There are huge opportunities, but many children and young people do not know that those opportunities exist, as my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) just said. If they do not know that these jobs exist, they will never be inspired to go for them.
Let me put this in context. I grew up in north Wales, but as an adult I went behind the scenes of Granada Studios in Manchester, and saw for the first time the variety of jobs there, such as storytellers or set designers—a huge number of jobs that I had never thought existed. I went behind the scenes of ITN News and saw the same thing. There was a group of children from Manchester there. I thought, “That’s fantastic,” but there are so many children growing up in rural areas, far away from cities, as my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham said; if they do not have parents, peers or people around them working in these kinds of jobs, they will not know they exist. My hon. Friend made some good points about that.
I completely agree with my hon. Friend that we need far more ambition. I went to meet advisers at Llandudno jobcentre recently. They were talking about the youth guarantee, which we already have in Wales—that is fantastic—but they were saying that too many 16-year-olds arrive with no idea of what they want to do after they leave school, because they are leaving those decisions too late. We need to start talking to children and young people far earlier and inspiring them about the jobs of the future. Whether in the creative industries, advanced manufacturing or cyber-security, children and young people need to know that jobs and opportunities exist. That should be a shared ambition for us all in this place. We must do whatever we can to drive that agenda forward.
Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this vital debate.
I want to stress how important it is for disabled young people that we have careers education that supports social mobility. Nearly half of families with a disabled child are living in poverty, and just this week we learned that the attainment gap for pupils from poorer backgrounds in Scotland is still widening. It is frustrating that the Scottish Government have not done more to address that. In Scotland, we know what works in terms of support for young people to make the often challenging transition from school to work or continuing education.
Before I was elected to this place, I had the privilege of working for the charity Enable, which runs a programme called Stepping Up. The programme is delivered in 75 schools in Scotland, across 15 local authorities, to more than 1,000 young people every year. It builds confidence, life skills and employability through real-world experiences and personalised coaching. It ensures that young people are equipped not only to reach positive destinations but to sustain them. That leads to lasting change and improved educational and employment outcomes. Over the course of its work, Stepping Up has supported more than 5,000 young people, 98% of whom go to positive destination—either a job, a modern apprenticeship, training or college. Ensuring that all our young people can be supported to have confidence in themselves will be vital if we are to improve social mobility in this country.
In Lochgelly, in my constituency, one in three children lives in poverty. Careers education is vital to their life chances. The developing the young workforce programme at Lochgelly high school is making that difference. Led by the co-ordinator of the programme, Pauline Abbie, it provides 100 work experience placements to pupils every year. It gives pupils a fantastic insight into the world of work in a whole range of industries, from hospitality to engineering, as well as into opportunities in education.
The programme at Lochgelly high school has more than 50 DYW partners, including Shell, Purvis Group, Fife Fabrications and Fife college. Not only do pupils benefit, but employers do, by connecting with their next generation of workers and supporting our local community. The developing the young workforce programme at Lochgelly high school proves that a stronger community partnership between local businesses and our young people benefits the whole community.
Over the past two decades we have not made nearly enough progress on social mobility, certainly not in Scotland, but given the investment this Government are making in education and the proven success of programmes such as Stepping Up and Developing the Young Workforce, we can be confident of far greater success for all our young people in the future, and they can have confidence in themselves.
Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this important debate. I have seen at first hand the decimation of good careers, education, work experience and guidance in our schools. The link between strong careers, education and social mobility is undeniable. The latest Social Mobility Commission report shows that Wolverhampton North East has real potential, with strong prospects, growing industries and young people determined to succeed despite the odds.
But it is on the fourth factor, conditions of childhood, where Wolverhampton falls into the red zone. This measure looks at child poverty, parental education and occupation, all of which shape a child’s life chances. The picture in Wolverhampton and Willenhall is stark. Around 40% of children are growing up in poverty, which is one of the highest rates in the west midlands. Fewer than a quarter of pupils on free school meals achieve a strong pass in both English and maths at GCSE. Many parents are working in insecure or low-paid jobs, with little access to training or upskilling. Those realities too often dictate how children in Wolverhampton and Willenhall grow up and, crucially, what they believe is possible for themselves. That is why good careers education is so vital.
I have seen the work experience requests from students who grow up not knowing a lawyer, engineer or scientist. Their aspirations are often limited not by their talent, but by exposure. I have worked with students who have lacked connections and the confidence and opportunity to try something new. Good careers education shows young people what is actually out there, tailored to the local labour market and what they are capable of. We need a careers system that starts early, in primary schools through to post 16 and beyond, embedded in the curriculum, delivered by trained professionals and connected to local sectors, whether that is advanced manufacturing, green technology, digital, defence or aerospace.
In Wolverhampton and Willenhall we have fantastic schools, colleges and employers and an ambitious university, but too often the bridge between them is missing, so a dedicated careers adviser in every school should be that bridge. If we are serious about social mobility, careers education has got to be a priority in the curriculum and assessment review—not an afterthought, but a vital tool to raise aspirations, widen horizons and open doors.
Chris Kane (Stirling and Strathallan) (Lab)
For too many people, the belief that intelligence, hard work and perseverance will be rewarded no longer holds true. The ladder of opportunity that once allowed previous generations to climb to a better future is now harder to reach and sometimes even harder to ascend. This is not just a personal frustration; it is a societal warning sign. When talented, hardworking individuals feel stuck, and when they see that no matter what they do they will not achieve what their parents did, we are not only wasting potential; we are eroding trust in our economic system.
Social mobility must not be viewed as a bonus only applicable to the good times. It is the foundation of a fair and functioning society. Without it, resentment grows, division deepens, and our social fabric begins to fray. First and foremost, we must recognise the pivotal role that our education system, our schools and our teachers play. Education remains the single most powerful engine of mobility. Great teachers do not just pass on knowledge; they ignite ambition, unlock potential and open doors that otherwise remain shut. But teachers cannot do this alone. They need investment, support and the resources to reach every child, not just the ones already on a path to success.
Part of that support must include a renewed focus on careers education. For too many people, particularly those from lower-income households, the guidance that they need to navigate future pathways is patchy at best and absent at worst. Careers education bridges the gap between parental knowledge and wider opportunity, and it is often the only structured support for those who lack the social capital to network their way into the world of work. Beyond the school gates, as I have discussed before, our youth services must be at the heart of the solution.
Youth workers, clubs and community programmes are often the safety net, and sometimes the springboard, for young people who need extra support. They provide mentoring, build confidence, offer practical life skills and connect young people to opportunities they might not otherwise see. When I look at youth services across my constituency, from local authority-funded provision to sports and community clubs, I see a patchwork of services funded from a variety of pots of money. I call on the SNP Scottish Government, if they are serious about equity and opportunity, to fund properly our local councils and commit to long-term support for youth services.
At a national level, I put on the record my appreciation for the work done by the Co-op and Demos for their “The Opportunity Effect” paper. There is clearly a need for better workplace practices to help address the lack of social mobility within our workplaces today, and the paper provides a number of solutions that I hope will receive Government attention. Careers education must be at the very heart of any strategy to restore social mobility in this country. It is the bridge between potential and opportunity; between what young people dream of becoming and the pathways that can make those dreams come true. Getting careers education right is key to success. Careers education is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing the debate. The topic of the debate is very close to my heart. I went straight from school, aged 15, to working in a factory. There was never any suggestion that I could do something different; it was just, “Go out and get a job.” There was no encouragement to look further afield, and there were no resources to find and develop an interest in an alternative career path or vocation. As a 15-year-old girl, I would have benefited so much from careers education in my school.
At the age of 40, I went back to school, so to speak, taking a six-month course in IT at John Wheatley College in Glasgow. Not only did that transform my CV and career opportunities, but it transformed my confidence. I discovered that it was not too late to try something new. In that sense, it was the most important piece of career education I ever received. I ended up waiting 25 years until I could consider another career option, to start a different life with a brighter future. That underlines the importance of careers education at an early age to change lives for the better. It also shows that high-quality careers education can be instrumental in transforming opportunities at every stage of life.
Responsibility for careers education in schools and colleges in Glasgow North East falls to the Scottish Government, so I will keep my remarks brief, but one area where we can see clear failure in careers education in Scotland is the housing sector. Data from the Chartered Institute of Building shows that three quarters of Scottish children have a positive view of a career in construction, but we are not seeing that translate into more of our young people beginning careers in bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing or any of the associated trades in the building industry.
That points to a clear issue at the careers education stage, where the enthusiasm and interests of our young people in this and many other sectors are not being adequately harnessed. They are well-paying jobs offering children a route out of poverty, which should be signposted through good careers advice. The failure is part of a much wider and very concerning decline in the quality of schooling in Scotland. Our schools are the driver of social mobility, and yet last year, nearly 24,000 young people—42% of pupils—left school without a single higher or equivalent. That shameful failure in our schools is holding back Scotland and our young people, especially in my constituency.
Gill German (Clwyd North) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall. Every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive, explore their talents, pursue their ambitions and succeed on their own terms. Too often, however, a child’s future is shaped more by their postcode than by their potential.
Young people in every community need to see the full range of what is possible. For many, that means opening up direct conversations with local employers; whether those careers are in tourism, renewable energy or the creative industries, we need to connect students with real-world routes into them. That is powerful, as it not only grows our future workforce, but broadens young people’s horizons and ideas about what success looks like close to home.
We should also recognise the transformative power of role models. When a young person sees someone from their own community succeed in law, engineering or the arts, it sends a powerful message: “Your ambitions are valid and achievable.” One brilliant example is the extraordinary Jack Bailey, a Rhyl lad through and through. He is a shining example of what can be achieved with talent, determination and the right support.
Jack is now an associate at a global law firm, having graduated from Cambridge University with a first-class degree in law. His journey began at Rhyl high school and Prestatyn sixth form, where dedicated teachers and the support of the Seren Network helped him to realise his potential. Seren is a Welsh Government programme that supports more able and talented learners in state schools and colleges to reach top universities and careers, helping to ensure that academic ability leads to real opportunity.
Jack’s story is not just about his success; he now champions social mobility and visits local schools, including Rhyl high. He is living proof that background should never limit ambition, and he is using his voice to tell others. We need more Jacks—more stories of local success and resilience that are shared openly to raise aspirations and broaden horizons. By connecting young people with opportunities, and sharing real stories like Jack’s, we can show that success is possible for everyone, no matter where they are from. Let us keep building pathways so that every young person has the chance to turn their talents into real opportunities and a bright future.
Louise Jones (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this important debate. I want to touch on a couple of points that hon. Members have already eloquently made.
First, on careers education for those with special educational needs and disabilities, the SEND system in Derbyshire is failing many of our young people. Many of my constituents are struggling to get their children adequately cared for in school or to secure them a place in school at all. I would like to highlight Landmarks specialist college in Eckington, which does a fantastic job in weaving careers education throughout the general education it provides, and sees the core of its mission as preparing its young people to enter the world of work and achieve their full potential.
In careers education, as well as highlighting the many fantastic careers that young people can go on to do, it is important to have an industry approach to careers and advise young people of the breadth of careers available within a specific industry, if that is what excites them. Many young people tell me that they are excited about becoming a YouTube influencer, or something related, and there are many fantastic careers in the industry, such as being a video or sound technician, that they might get just as much out of.
My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) spoke eloquently about the social mobility opportunities available later in life. That reminded me of my mother, who could not go to university until she was my age, and what a difference it made to her life.
I have often seen that at first hand when people leave the military. Many people serve in the military for only a few short years before they go on to another career. It is important to say to young people aged between 12 and 18 that the decisions they make now will not lock them in for the rest of their lives. Many of the opportunities that are available—such as university and further education—will be there for them in their 20s, 30s, 40s and even beyond. One of the people I served with started her A-levels in her early 30s and is now a fully qualified doctor. It is never too late to change your future.
I hope that the Minister will be able to give us some assurances when it comes to careers education. Although we should tell young people about the opportunities, jobs and so on that could be out there, we should also tell them to focus on the industries that they are interested in. Although the decisions they are making have a large impact, they should not forget that they will have plenty of time throughout their adult lives to take advantage of other opportunities.
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on securing this important debate.
There is general consensus in the Chamber that every young person, no matter their background or needs, should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. They should be able to get the information and advice that they need to pursue a variety of career options for the many jobs and careers of the future. The options are growing by the day, and many of us do not even know about them yet. We know, however, that 12.5% of all 16 to 24-year-olds are not in employment, education or training, and that 37% of gen Z feel they will be financially worse off by the time they reach their parents’ age—a sobering statistic.
We know, as we have heard clearly today, that many people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds cannot rely on the parental networks, role models, advice and guidance that so many of us—including many of my constituents—are able to benefit from. It is important for the Government and us, as parliamentarians and policymakers, to find ways of trying to even out those inequalities. That is challenging, but there are steps we can take to address them.
As things stand, careers information, guidance and advice often comes too late in a young person’s academic career, and when it does, it can be quite generic and inconsistent. It is not even a compulsory element of all schools’ curricula. When it comes to thinking about higher education post school, students from more affluent backgrounds are 1.4 times more likely to think about higher education at primary school, say, than their disadvantaged peers. UCAS notes:
“Disadvantaged students are more likely to consider higher education later, which can limit their choices, especially for more selective subjects and higher tariff providers.”
The problem is not limited to just those who want to go to university. The Social Market Foundation reported in 2022 that support for students pursuing vocational options was weaker than for those pursuing academic options, with university often presented as the “default option”. One child told SMF that it was not until they got to year 12 that they realised there were other options besides university, with another saying that, “Help isn’t given to you,” if people do not want to go to university. It is high time that we level the playing field and put forward the full range of options—whether that is apprenticeships or other vocational training—on a par with going to university. How can we excite our children and young people about the wide variety of futures that could lie before them if they do not feel they have the options?
When high-quality and effective careers guidance is offered, the benefits to young people are immediately tangible. Students in schools that meet all eight Gatsby benchmarks for careers guidance are 8% less likely to not be in education, employment or training, and that figure increases to 20% for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We know that schools and organisations that engage with local employers and businesses also score well on the Gatsby benchmarks.
That is where I would like to pay tribute to the south London careers hub, which works across five boroughs of south London, including my own. It works with 80 business volunteers and has provided meaningful experience in the world of work for students in 95 schools across those five boroughs. It has held themed events focused on certain sectors of the economy, such as the green economy. I opened an event for the hub in my constituency a couple of years ago that focused on entrepreneurship and showed young people how they could create their own work and business opportunities in the future. Critically—to speak to some of the points already made—it also focuses on SEND provision, because we often overlook those with particular needs.
At the other end of the country, I visited South Durham university technical college a couple of years ago. UTCs are different from mainstream schools and colleges because they focus on vocational skills. I was blown away by the partnership that that UTC—I know this is also true for other UTCs across the country—has developed with local major employers to provide meaningful experiences for the young people it is working with. For example, its careers guidance people accompany young people to meetings and events with employers. Clearly, schools do not have the capacity and resources to do that kind of intensive careers guidance, but there is a lot for mainstream schools to learn from UTCs.
I have several asks of the Minister. As the Government are looking at the curriculum and assessment review, will they ensure that high-quality, age-appropriate careers education, starting from primary school, is part of the curriculum? Will they look at including financial literacy, as recommended by the Education Committee?
The hon. Member for Wrexham talked about soft skills; I would not call such skills—communication, teamwork and so on—soft; they are life skills that are critical to success in the world of work. They are key to securing a job, being able to navigate interviews and networking, and then holding down a job in the workplace.
Have the Government considered expanding the National Careers Service to ensure more face-to-face time for careers guidance for adults, particularly now that we know that so many people will be changing careers and going into new and emerging sectors of the economy? What plans do the Government have to strengthen the professional careers guidance workforce, as well as to ensure that our main teacher workforce is recruited from a diverse range of backgrounds, to share those experiences with children and young people?
I will end with the elephant in the room: none of this will be possible until we fix school funding. I know from talking to headteachers across the country, including those in my constituency just yesterday, that school budgets are absolutely at breaking point. With neither the rise in employers’ national insurance nor the teachers’ pay rise being fully reimbursed, they are having to make all sorts of cuts, and some of them are planning teacher redundancies. Careers education will be one of the first areas that they look to cut, because they do not want to compromise on teaching the core subjects that they have to get children through.
I therefore ask the Minister, when she responds, to address some of those questions. How will she fund schools so that they can provide the careers education and guidance that our children absolutely need and deserve?
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this debate, and all Members for their contributions. I am, of course, very pleased to respond to today’s important debate on behalf of the Opposition.
It is an undeniable truth that while talent is spread evenly across the UK, opportunity is not. We in the Conservative party take real pride in our record on expanding opportunity and social mobility to ensure that every young person, regardless of their background, no matter where they are from, has the chance to achieve their full potential and build the best possible career for themselves. More than 5.8 million apprenticeships across 700 occupations, from level 2 to degree level and backed by £2.4 billion by 2024-25, were started under successive Conservative Governments, giving young people the chance to gain real-world experience, to earn while they learn and to develop the skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
We are equally proud of our achievement in the schools system. The Conservatives drove up school performance across the board, with 90% of schools rated good or outstanding at the end of our time in office, up from 68% under Labour. Under the Conservatives, England became one of the top-performing countries for education in the western world. It was named “best in the west” for reading, and recently for maths, and it is in the top five globally for science. This transformation did not happen by accident; it happened because the Conservative party relentlessly focused on standards, rigour and ensuring excellence to help drive opportunity for all.
We can contrast that with other places in the UK—for example, Scotland. Nowhere is the effect of a Government allowing ideology rather than evidence to drive education policy more obvious than in Scotland. After almost two decades of the SNP being in power, its failure to close—indeed, its unrivalled ability to increase—the attainment gap in our schools is a record that should shame the SNP.
Every day, the impact of this failure is being borne out in the life chances of children and young people across Scotland. The attainment gap between the poorest and wealthiest school leavers is at a five-year high. Young people from the most deprived areas in Scotland are over three times less likely to enter work or further education compared with those in the least deprived areas. Across science, reading and maths, there is an average performance gap of over 90% between the top and bottom socioeconomic classes, and pupils from the poorest areas are 23% less likely to leave school with at least one national 5, increasing to 38% for highers.
Scotland’s schools were once rated among the best in the world. We are now ranked 14th in Europe for reading, 30th for maths and 32nd for science. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said:
“something, somewhere is going wrong in Scottish education.”
That “something” and “somewhere” can be found in the ideology of consecutive SNP Governments at Holyrood.
I return to the Conservatives’ record at Westminster. We encouraged every secondary school to have a trained careers leader, to make the most of available connections and to co-ordinate and integrate the careers programme throughout schools. We launched the new careers programme, offering young people strengthened careers advice that would see all year 8 to 13 pupils have at least six opportunities to meet a range of providers of technical education, giving pupils an understanding of the full range of opportunities available to them, including apprenticeships, T-levels and higher technical qualifications —not just the traditional academic routes.
If social mobility is to continue to improve, there must be no drift on the education and skills agenda under the current Labour Government. However, we have already seen the Government cut the minimum duration of apprenticeships from 12 to eight months. They have also ended the requirement for adult apprentices to complete English and maths functional skills. There is a proposal to divert half of the apprenticeship levy into other non-apprenticeship schemes—a change that will halve the number of quality apprenticeships available to young people—and level 7 apprenticeships are to be scrapped, which has been described as a direct attack on social mobility.
We should also be clear that careers education and facilitation of social mobility are not delivered in a vacuum; they depend on stable staffing, adequate funding and overall stability in the education sector. Changes to the national pay and curriculum rules in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill risk undermining the very autonomy that has driven improvement in some of the most disadvantaged communities. The tax on independent schools is projected to push up to 90,000 pupils into the state system, swelling class sizes and putting even more pressure on local schools already struggling to balance the books. The rise in employer national insurance contributions has hit schools and colleges hard.
When she winds up today, I hope that the Minister will outline how schools can continue to provide meaningful careers guidance and prioritise maximising social mobility for their students when they are struggling to pay their staff overheads and manage rising class sizes. If we are serious about social mobility, as I believe all hon. Members present are, then careers education cannot be an afterthought. It must be embedded in the curriculum design, teacher training, local employer partnership and the national policy. The Conservative party will continue to champion opportunity and to support high standards, academic excellence and rigorous technical education. We will always stand up for the right of every young person to choose their path, find their passion and make the most of their potential.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
It is a real pleasure to speak this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on securing this important debate. I acknowledge all the remarkable contributions from hon. Members across the Chamber. My hon. Friend is clearly very driven and knowledgeable about this area. I thank him for sharing the success of Rofft school in Wrexham and the transformational testimonies of Vicki’s progress with her art and Sophie’s with her maths. It was so lovely to hear about Sophie going on her first holiday as well.
With regard to the broader professional skills framework, the Government agree on the importance of soft skills, which the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) referred to as life skills. Officials recently met with Skills Builder to discuss that framework. I make it known to my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham that we recommend its use in our recently updated statutory careers guidance for schools.
I also acknowledge other Members. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) spoke about the need for young people to be able to make informed career choices. They need to be given the right advice to prevent confusion. I acknowledge the contribution from the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour). I absolutely agree that children and young people need to think big, dream big and aspire to be the best they can.
My hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) was clear that the career progress of children and young people should not be a lottery, and that we need to make sure that we continue to combat child poverty. That is extremely significant. I acknowledge the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) about the Government’s work on 1,000 career advisers. I appreciate his contribution. My hon. Friend the Member for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes) spoke passionately about the creative industries, and the need for young people to know what jobs are available and for that information to be made known to them. That is extremely important. They need to know what exists, from a young age.
Hon. Members spoke about many topics, including having the chance to go on to a career as an older person, not just as a younger person. For some, life begins at 40 or beyond. We must not reduce the opportunities for children and young people, or for adults. Many stories have been shared today, including the story of Jack Bailey. I thank hon. Members for all those contributions. I absolutely agree that we need to support young people in the choices that they make. The hon. Member for Twickenham spoke about a range of learning, training and skills that should be on a par with universities. There is no disagreement from us on that. She also spoke about the value of career hubs—again, I absolutely agree.
There was much criticism of the Scottish National party and its many failures. That came across very clearly. So much needs to be done there, and we will hold them to account every step of the way, as do Members across this Chamber. The Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), also spoke about SNP failings, but seemed to ignore her own party’s failings when in government.
Young people need the right opportunities and the right information and guidance to set them on the path of success. That is crucial if we are to meet the skills needs of the future and deliver on the Government’s five missions. We will do better than the last Government. Almost one in eight young people across the United Kingdom is not in education, training or work. That limits our productivity and growth. More than half a million vacancies are due to skills shortages. We can all agree that those are very real challenges and there is an urgent need to take action.
We are investing £15.8 billion in the financial year 2025-26 in apprenticeships, further education and higher education. We are serious about the changes that are needed. We are developing a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and to support the development of a skilled workforce in all areas of England. A skills system fit for the future will give young people the training and skills to gain a sense of success and purpose and to build confidence and the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career.
Too often, young people from deprived backgrounds and communities lack the information, connections and encouragement to look beyond their current landscapes; we have heard that from many Members this afternoon. Careers education is a great enabler, empowering young people to explore their potential and to navigate their future with confidence. Teachers should and must make the classroom an important place of career exploration, and I absolutely agree with hon. Members that that must start early. We should encourage aspiration among primary-age children by opening their eyes to a wide range of jobs and careers and speaking to them about opportunities, jobs, careers and what they could go on to do. We should tell them that they can go on to be sustained in a career they enjoy.
For secondary pupils, through career learning in curriculum subjects, teachers can help to connect and apply knowledge and skills to real-world contexts. Careers education can illuminate career pathways through conversations with employers, training providers and careers advisers. The foundations of the careers system and improving outcomes for young people are in place. By using the Gatsby benchmarks of good career guidance, dedicated careers leaders are developing careers programmes for young people against a set of world-class standards, overseen by the Careers and Enterprise Company—a national network of 44 career hubs, delivering career support to 95% of secondary schools and colleges.
The hubs are partnerships with strategic and local authorities that connect careers provision to the needs of local economies and leverage support from thousands of employers. They are targeting the right young people to promote social mobility in every region. For example, the Cumbria careers hub worked with the local hospitality industry and 10 schools, targeting students with low social mobility. The students visited a local college, where top Cumbrian chefs cooked a three-course lunch while explaining food presentation, food service and food provenance. The careers hub funded all the transport costs.
Careers hub membership leads to stronger career provision, as those schools and colleges meet an average of 5.8 out of the eight Gatsby benchmarks. It leads to more understanding of technical routes: 80% of young people are likely to report awareness of an apprenticeship by year 11, almost on par with A-levels. It leads to increased employer engagement: learners in 64% of schools have 10 or more encounters with businesses. Only yesterday, I met a young person in the Department undertaking an apprenticeship in business management. She spoke excitedly, and so well and confidently, about her experience. We need to ensure more of our young people have such experiences all around our country.
There is also well developed evidence linking good career guidance to reduced levels of young people not in education, employment or training. Young people in schools and colleges with the highest-quality careers provision are 8% less likely to become NEET. That effect is magnified in the most disadvantaged schools, where the highest-quality careers provision is associated with a 20% reduction in NEET rates. But there is more to do to ensure that young people from all backgrounds can realise those benefits. The data shows a gap in career readiness ranging from 2% to 5% between the most and least economically disadvantaged young people. Disadvantaged people are less confident in talking about their skills when applying for courses or jobs. Only 25% of schools and colleges fully achieve all eight Gatsby benchmarks, which represent the highest-quality careers provision.
We want to accelerate progress, close gaps and better support young people to raise aspiration and meet the country’s skills needs. That is why we are committed to improving careers advice in schools and colleges across England. We have raised the bar of our expectations for careers guidance for young people by publishing updated statutory guidance for schools and colleges, which adopts the updated Gatsby benchmarks framework with evidence-based improvements that will lead to even better outcomes for young people. That includes opening up opportunities to young people with SEND. There are many examples of that. York and North Yorkshire careers hub is working with Forest Moor school, a SEND school in a rural area, to support year 11 pupils to access experiences of trade, such as bricklaying, plastering and decorating.
I recognise that time is moving on. Much more could be said about what the Government are doing in this area. Too many young people are missing out on the work experience that they need. We will continue to develop skills and improve work readiness to ensure that young people are supported. That includes virtual workplace experiences for more than 1,000 schools in rural and coastal areas, providing access to wider national networks of employers outside their local community, including with key employers such as Airbus and Siemens.
The need for high-quality careers education is not confined to the young. The “Get Britain Working” White Paper set us on the path to creating an inclusive labour market in which everybody can participate and progress in work. Careers and employability support are at the heart of that. To help bridge the gap for those who might otherwise struggle to find employment, a new youth guarantee will ensure that 18 to 21-year-olds in England can get support to find training, an apprenticeship or work. We are also providing support for adults who want to work, increase their earnings, change their career or even retrain.
In England, the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus will be brought together as a new jobs and careers service. That will create greater awareness of opportunities, and a focus on skills and careers, as well as better join-up between employability, support and career provision.
I am enormously grateful for the support of my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham for this agenda, and for all hon. Members’ contributions, which have shone a light on the vital role of careers education in tackling disadvantage. I have set out some of what we are doing to ensure that people from all backgrounds are supported in finding rewarding and fulfilling careers.
Andrew Ranger
I thank the Minister, the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross) and the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) for their remarks—they are much appreciated. I thank all hon. Members who took part in the debate. It was great to hear their insightful and valuable contributions. They spoke about the experiences and initiatives in their constituencies, which are vital to this debate.
I will keep my remarks short. I look forward to continuing to work with the Government and other hon. Members to take this important subject forward across the House and beyond. It is about the future of this country, and it is vital.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the role of careers education in improving social mobility.