Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average number of people throughout 2025 aged between 18 and 24 years old that were not in education, employment or training in (a) Norwich North constituency and (b) Norfolk.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Labour Force Survey publishes estimates of the number of young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England. For the East of England, there were approximately 55,000 NEET young people in Quarter 1 of 2025 (January to March), 68,000 in Quarter 2 (April to June), 78,000 in Quarter 3 (July to September) and 75,000 in Quarter 4 (October to December). The available data does not provide estimates at county or parliamentary constituency level.
This Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. The Government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
Young people in Norwich North and Norfolk will benefit from the full breadth of Youth Guarantee Support. This includes an expanded network of Youth Hubs, earlier intensive support in Jobcentres through a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, additional work experience and training opportunities, a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant and £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for employers, and a fully funded six-month job for long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve response rates and reduce communication delays from the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is delivering the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Modernisation Programme to improve customer access, efficiency and transparency. This includes integrated online application services, the My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) service, which provides customers with online access to case information and payment schedules, allows changes to be reported at times convenient to the customer and Customer Connect, which enables secure online communication between parents and caseworkers. Telephone and assisted digital support remain available for customers who need additional assistance.
The programme has also introduced improved digital communications, enhanced data sharing and automation to support faster maintenance calculations and case progression, and predictive analytics to help identify cases at risk of non-compliance. This enables earlier intervention, allowing cases to be reviewed more quickly and appropriate action taken to support ongoing compliance. Through these improvements, the Department is working to provide a more efficient, responsive and accessible service for customers.
Asked by: Alice Macdonald (Labour (Co-op) - Norwich North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support young people with SEND into work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is taking action to support disabled young people and those with long-term health conditions into work, including young people with Special Educational Needs (SEND). Pathways to Work and the Youth Guarantee will provide disabled young people and young people with long-term health conditions tailored support that meets their needs, helping them to move into and stay in work.
Backed by £1 billion a year of new funding by the end of the decade, Pathways to Work is building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. Some Pathways to Work support is available irrespective of benefit entitlement.
Through Pathways to Work, disabled young people have access to tailored support, including help into supported employment through Connect to Work. Our Local Economic Inactivity and Youth Guarantee Trailblazers are also offering targeted support for disabled young people.
We know supported internships break down barriers to opportunity for disabled young people. Our recent investment has increased numbers and improved programme quality, supporting more young people to transition into employment. We are providing £9 million to continue our supported internship pilot reaching hundreds more young people without an Education, Health and Care plan, to support them into sustained employment.
Finally, the Access to Work Scheme can also provide grant funding to disabled young people. Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.