Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Pakes Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the youth guarantee trailblazer areas on young people’s life prospects.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Pat McFadden)]

It has been some time since we had one of these sessions, and there have been some political developments. We have a new Prime Minister in place. The shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately), has survived a reshuffle—I know what that feels like, so I welcome her back to her place—and of course, we have just welcomed my hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Sagal Abdi-Wali), the new MP for her seat. I should say that if her opponent ever needs any help with employment security, we have a number of work experience and training programmes that I am happy to make available to him.

Turning to the question, youth guarantee trailblazers are a flexible, locally delivered way to help more young people into work. The early evidence is encouraging, showing more participation and getting young people work-ready. There will be a full evaluation next year. Delivering employment support more locally through mayors and local authorities is the direction of travel, and we will do more of this in the future.

[Andrew Pakes]

Too many young people in Peterborough are starting adult life without the skills, support or training they need to get on, so I am incredibly proud that Peterborough was chosen as one of the first pilots for the youth guarantee trailblazer. However, we do not just have high levels of people not in education, employment or training; according to our chambers of commerce, we have high levels of businesses unable to recruit the staff they need because of skills shortages. This highlights one of the big mismatches—that between young people who do not have the skills, and employers who cannot find people to train and support in developing those skills. What more can my right hon. Friend’s Department do to ensure that young people and businesses can find each other as we invest in apprenticeships?

[Pat McFadden]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his tireless and constant campaigning on the issue of youth opportunity. He asks specifically about skills. From 1 August this year, we are fully funding apprenticeship training for all eligible under-25s. We have brought the National Careers Service into the Department for Work and Pensions, meaning that around 500 qualified careers advisers are now helping people of all ages to access careers support regardless of benefit status, and doing that skills matching that my hon. Friend spoke about so eloquently.