Supported Internship Provision Debate
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David Williams
Main Page: David Williams (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)Department Debates - View all David Williams's debates with the Department for Education
Supported Internship Provision
David Williams Excerpts(2 days, 5 hours ago)
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Jodie Gosling
Absolutely. I will come to this later, but we were inspired by a visit to Asda and its supported interns.
The supported internship scheme builds on the applicant’s interests and passions, and it provides them with flexibility to try different types of employment opportunities and build skills in a range of sectors with organisations such as the NHS, Asda, Amazon and Goldman Sachs.
David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
There is a lot of talk about Asda, and I pay tribute to the Asda in Tunstall in my constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, which has an excellent supported internship programme that helps young people to step up into employment. Does my hon. Friend agree that, as outlined in the Green Paper published yesterday, we must ensure that Access to Work is strengthened for adults by raising awareness of the scheme and clearing the backlog?
Jodie Gosling
I absolutely agree that we need to remove the backlog and get more people into good, paid employment with the skills that they need to become independent.
Paragraph 59 of the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper clearly demonstrates an ambition to change working practices to support employers to make workplaces accessible and inclusive. The Green Paper discusses the
“‘scarring effects’ from youth employment and inactivity.”
Not only is delayed entry into the workforce costly, but it has a negative impact on the individual, damaging their long-term mental and physical health.
The youth guarantee scheme—a commitment to offer every young person a guaranteed place of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a training scheme within four months of leaving formal education—is also set to bring about monumental change. If we are to achieve such clear ambitions, then work, and support for young people, especially those with SEND, needs to adapt rapidly.