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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Powell Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Stephen Timms]

I would be very happy to look into the particular case the hon. Member raises. Of course, an appeal process is available, so I hope that her constituent has submitted an appeal. If she lets me have the details, I will gladly have a look at the case.

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

T7. Earlier this month I visited the Spear programme in north Kensington, which is doing fantastic work in supporting young people back into employment through programmes that the DWP data lab has found to have a significant impact. Could the Secretary of State outline how evidence produced by units such as the data lab will help guide the trailblazer funding to get young people back into work?

[Pat McFadden]

The Spear programme was one of the first organisations to go through an evaluation with the data lab a few years ago. I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that the findings from that were really positive, and I am delighted that his constituency is located in one of the youth guarantee trailblazer areas. As we have reiterated several times, it is crucial that we do everything we can to help young people into work and address the issue, which we inherited, of people not in employment, education or training.

Oral Answers to Questions

Joe Powell Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

I do not recognise the way the hon. Lady framed the Prime Minister’s answer. We want a social security system that protects those who can never and will never work, but disabled people who are out of work and economically inactive are more likely than non-disabled people to say they want to work, and if they are in work, they are half as likely to be poor. We want to shift the focus of the system to do more to help people who can work to do so, and to protect those who cannot, because that is the way that we give people a better future.

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

7. What steps she is taking to support young people into employment, education or training in Kensington and Bayswater constituency.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

As we have already discussed, every young person in this country needs a good start. As part of our plans to get Britain working, we announced £45 million-worth of funding for eight youth guarantee trailblazers to lead the way. Kensington and Bayswater is covered by the youth guarantee trailblazer launched last month by the Greater London Authority.

[Joe Powell]

I recently visited the North Kensington jobcentre to learn about its support for young people and discuss the potential for working more closely with our brilliant local college, the North Kensington Centre for Skills, so that people can access opportunities in industries such as trades and housing. Will the Minister outline what more the Department is doing to bring together colleges and jobcentres for young people?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend both for his question and for going to see the team at the North Kensington jobcentre; there is a really dedicated team of five work coaches specifically for young people. I am working with colleagues in the Department for Education on the development of Skills England so that in the future our work coaches—for example, the five who serve his constituency and look after young people—will have much closer access to get them into courses and get them building to move our economy and their careers on.