Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Powell Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

We are getting a grip. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that we are recruiting 500 extra staff to process access to work applications. Those staff are being recruited and trained at the moment and as a result of that, we will eliminate the access to work backlog that we inherited from the previous Government by September next year.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

T5. I am delighted that North Kensington will soon be opening a youth hub to support young people back into work. One challenge that people tell me we have locally is hidden NEETs—those who might be enrolled in college and not attending, or not claiming universal credit—so can the Minister explain what expectation there will be for the youth hubs to reach this hard-to-reach cohort of young people?

[Andrew Western]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the challenge of hidden NEETs. Youth hubs are open to all young people aged 16 to 24, regardless of benefit status, and we expect them to work closely with local authorities, schools, colleges and community organisations to identify and engage young people who may be missing out on support. There is a particular challenge with hidden NEETs, and I expect that we will be able to bear down on that problem through such place-based intelligence sharing.