Social Mobility: Public Schools

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

Does the Minister agree that—

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

This side, my Lords.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece]

Does the Minister agree that until we tackle growing inequalities, we cannot hope to tackle social inequality? When you have a situation in which more than 60% of young black men in this country are unemployed, how on earth are we going to achieve social mobility?

[Lord Bates]

My noble friend raises a very important point, which is that the route back into social mobility comes through the place of work. That is why we are opening up 1.5 million apprenticeships and why bearing down on unemployment—it is a fact that we are now in the 17th month of falling unemployment among the young—is so critical to raising the prospects of the young people, as we so want to do.

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town]

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Hussein-Ece.

Even where two similarly qualified graduates attended the same university, what happens afterwards is that the privately schooled graduate is 8% more likely to get a top job than someone from the state schools—even at that stage. What are the Government doing with their own recruitment policies to make sure that that sort of unfairness does not appear within the Civil Service?