Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the agriculture sector in April.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the acting National Statistician of the UK Statistics Authority.
Emma Rourke | Acting National Statistician
The Baroness Stedman-Scott OBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
12 May 2025
Dear Lady Stedman-Scott,
As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the agriculture sector in April (HL6966).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, as well as information on their age and sex. In addition, working respondents report the industry they believe best reflects their workplace. These responses are classified using the Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07).
Unfortunately, estimates for April 2025 will not be available until 10 June 2025. In the period December 2024 to February 2025, the latest LFS data available, the number of men aged 16 to 24 years who were working in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry sector was 15,000. Please note that this estimate is based on a small sample size. This may result in less precise estimates, which should be used with caution.
The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are subject to increased volatility and are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 on 16 April, how they will ensure that police policies are updated, particularly with regard to (1) reporting of male crime statistics, and (2) the right of women to be dealt with by female police officers, particularly in the event of a strip search.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are currently considering the implications of the Supreme Court ruling for the Home Office and policing.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure that all public services are compliant with the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 on 16 April.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) regulates equality law across England, Wales and Scotland and human rights across England & Wales.
The EHRC is independent of the government and makes its own enforcement and regulation decisions, including any inquiries and investigations it decides to conduct. The EHRC are currently updating their Code of Practice to reflect the ruling.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 on 16 April, when the Equality and Human Rights Commission will publish an updated statutory code of practice.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is independent of government. The matter of updating their guidance is a decision for EHRC. This question has been passed to the EHRC who will be providing a written response to Baroness Stedman-Scott.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the manufacturing sector in April.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Baroness Stedman-Scott OBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
2 May 2025
Dear Lady Stedman-Scott,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the construction sector in April (HL6964), and how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the manufacturing sector in April (HL6965).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, as well as information on their age and sex. In addition, working respondents report the industry they believe best reflects their workplace. These responses are classified using the Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07).
Unfortunately, estimates for April 2025 will not be available until 10 June 2025. In the period December 2024 to February 2025, the latest LFS data available, the number of men aged 16 to 24 years who were working in the construction sector was 196,000, while the number of men aged 16 to 24 years who were working in the manufacturing sector was 155,000.
The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are subject to increased volatility and are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the construction sector in April.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Baroness Stedman-Scott OBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
2 May 2025
Dear Lady Stedman-Scott,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the construction sector in April (HL6964), and how many men aged 16 to 24 years old were employed in the manufacturing sector in April (HL6965).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, as well as information on their age and sex. In addition, working respondents report the industry they believe best reflects their workplace. These responses are classified using the Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07).
Unfortunately, estimates for April 2025 will not be available until 10 June 2025. In the period December 2024 to February 2025, the latest LFS data available, the number of men aged 16 to 24 years who were working in the construction sector was 196,000, while the number of men aged 16 to 24 years who were working in the manufacturing sector was 155,000.
The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are subject to increased volatility and are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to deliver additional employment support to young men aged 16 to 24 years old.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.
DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.
This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.
The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have set a target to reduce the number of economically inactive men aged 16 to 24 years old.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The steps set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper set us on a path to bring down economic inactivity levels and to take the first steps to delivering our long-term ambition of achieving an 80% employment rate. The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.
DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners such as the Kings Trust, Local Authorities, National Careers Service/Career Wales, local colleges and Youth Trusts.
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we are launching a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England set to receive grant funding to deliver the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers from Spring 2025. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls-out across the rest of England.
This is alongside a new national jobs and careers service to help get more people into work, work health and skills plans for the economically inactive, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people. We will work in partnership with organisations and businesses at the national and local level to offer exciting and engaging opportunities to young people. This could include work experience, training courses or employability programmes.
The Government is also reforming the apprenticeships offer into a more flexible growth and skills offer, aligned to the industrial strategy. The Department for Education is working to introduce new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships, in targeted sectors. These will help more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuel innovation in businesses across the country, and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the construction sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many policy reviews and consultations the Department for Work and Pensions has launched since the General Election on 4 July 2024; what the subject of each review is; and what the anticipated timescales are for their completion.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.
As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.
Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.