Milburn Review: Interim Report Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Damien Egan
Main Page: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)Department Debates - View all Damien Egan's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Andrew Western
The hon. Gentleman has elevated me to Cabinet level—something that is at least premature, if not unlikely ever to happen, I suspect. I refer him to the Milburn report, because it sounds as if he has not read it. It states that
“the UK’s NEET crisis is much more long-term and deep-seated than any decisions taken in the last few years.”
Making particular reference to national insurance, it states that
“it is worth remembering that those under 21 remain exempt from employer NICs and, as the review has already highlighted, the increase in youth inactivity long precedes any recent changes to NICs.”
Damien Egan (Bristol North East) (Lab)
I welcome the interim report. My question is about work experience. When I was at school, this was typically organised by teachers and gave children a peek into worlds that otherwise would be unimaginable, but today children in my Bristol constituency are being asked to find their own placements, which obviously disadvantages children from families that are less well connected. Will we be likely to see more organised work experience placements for schoolchildren as a result of this review?
Andrew Western
My hon. Friend is entirely right to highlight the value of work experience, in particular for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who perhaps do not have the connections that others benefit from. He will be pleased to know that the Government are committed to reforming work experience to break down barriers to opportunity, so that every pupil will have access to two weeks-worth of multiple, meaningful and varied workplace experiences throughout key stages 3 and 4, progressively increasing their work-readiness as they move through secondary education.