Youth Mobility Scheme
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes Excerpts(3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
I very much appreciate the noble Baroness’s support for the cadet scheme; in fact, I was the honorary president of my local air cadets until I joined the Government. Let me be clear: as no one in this House will be surprised to hear, we had to make some appalling decisions because of the financial inheritance from the previous Government. On that basis, difficult decisions have been made, but noble Lords will also appreciate that announcements have been made about the cadet scheme, and they are available for all noble Lords, so they can see how much we celebrate the role of cadets as ambassadors.
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)
My Lords, the Minister noted that it would be a balanced scheme with an allotted number of places. How will the Government ensure that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and rural communities are part of that and not left out of such a scheme?
Erasmus+
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes Excerpts(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
The Turing scheme, the Taith scheme and the CEEPUS schemes have provided wonderful opportunities for many young people. The noble Baroness will not be surprised to hear that I wanted to know how many people from the Potteries have participated: 200, in case noble Lords are interested. It is incredibly important that we make sure there is no gap and that we look at all these schemes in the round. Obviously, once negotiations—which are currently active—have been held, both on this and on the youth mobility scheme we will be discussing next week, there will be full disclosure to your Lordships’ House so we can discuss in the usual way what happens next.
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (PC)
My Lords, “at pace”, as we know, does not seem to have a timeline. We must note that many cohorts of young people have already missed out on these schemes. Do the Government not recognise that those in their mid-20s to late 20s do not have those opportunities to look forward to? What will this Government give to them?
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises an interesting point. I know that she personally benefited from the Erasmus scheme. The scheme could be open to those who are still accessing education and those teaching in educational establishments. She suggests that it is closed to those in their mid-20s to late 20s, but they might be able to access the scheme in other ways. We will be discussing the youth mobility scheme proposals next week. My definition of “young” might have changed slightly, but I look forward to discussing the proposals with her, and how people in their 20s and 30s may be able to access schemes in this way.