Business Hiring

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Hunt of Wirral]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of current business hiring intentions and their implications for the wider economy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

The UK labour market and economy remain resilient despite geopolitical uncertainties. The UK had the fastest growing-economy in the G7 in Q1 2026. On the labour market, ONS data shows that there are 416,000 more people in work than a year ago. Its business insights survey shows that over 80% of businesses intend to either maintain or increase their staff levels in June 2026.

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

I greatly regret to tell the House that the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of young people not in training, education or employment has exceeded 1 million. I believe we are heading to figures for 18 to 24 year-olds which have not been seen since 2008 when, under the previous Labour Government, the future looked very grim. Recent measures were introduced by the Government, including the business-busting Employment Rights Act, the national insurance contributions—the list is endless, and if noble Lords would like to read them all, they are in the report of the unemployment adviser, Mr Alan Milburn, or the essay published by the previous Prime Minister. Will the Minister wake up and do something about this?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

I do not accept the characterisation presented. We recognise there is a crisis of participation, and Alan Milburn’s interim report clearly laid out many of the contributing factors in health and education, which have been there for many years. Under the previous Government between 2021 and 2024, the number of young NEETs increased by 250,000. This is an issue that we are tackling. As I mentioned, in Q1 of 2026 the economy was one of the fastest-growing in the G7. We are taking actions on youth employment, supporting young people to get into work, supporting them with work experience, training and apprenticeships. This is exactly what we need to do in these circumstances.