Oral Answers to Questions

Christine Jardine Excerpts

Monday 14th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

As I have said, I am determined that we get these things right. Two things can be true at the same time: I feel the system is unfair and in need of reform, but we also have to put that in the context of the wider public finances and all the pressures and priorities that fall on them. However, it is slightly audacious of the Conservatives to raise this issue, given that they introduced the plan 2 system and froze the threshold four times when they were in government—they are not independent campaigners on this issue today. It now falls in my lap to deal with this issue, and I will do so, unlike the Conservative party.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

2. What steps she is taking to support young people not in education, employment or training.

[John Grady (Glasgow East) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Lucy Powell)]

I thank Alan Milburn for his commitment to our young people. This is one of our country’s biggest challenges, and I agree with him that education is “the faltering foundation”. Our current system is leaving too many behind. Countries that combine high academic standards with quality technical education boast low NEET rates, which is why I am determined to make this country a technical education superpower.

[Christine Jardine]

I associate myself with your comments, Mr Speaker, and those of the Secretary of State.

Figures quoted today by the BBC suggest that as many as one in five young people in education may not be attending college courses regularly, so the situation may be even worse than outlined in the Milburn report. While I welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to a fundamental encouragement of technical education, does she think we are approaching a crisis and that we need to rethink exactly what it is that will engage our young people in education, because they are not getting from it what they need to feel prepared for their future life? If so, how will she go about that?