Supported Internship Provision Debate
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Jonathan Davies
Main Page: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)Department Debates - View all Jonathan Davies's debates with the Department for Education
Supported Internship Provision
Jonathan Davies Excerpts(2 days, 5 hours ago)
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Jodie Gosling
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, and absolutely—the crucial aspect is enabling people into good, well-paid jobs.
The final principle of supported internships is for young people to gain paid employment that fits not only their passions but their long-term career goals, while providing the flexibility to overcome barriers. Supported internships have demonstrated evidence that, with a compassionate scaffolding, the proportion of young people with an education, health and care plan who enter the workforce, which is currently a woeful 5%, can be vastly improved to 60%, through the delivery of the four key principles that I have just stated.
Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)
I recently visited Asda in Spondon in my constituency, where there is a supported internship under way called Project SEARCH. It is delivered with the YMCA and the Direct Education Business Partnership. It is a fantastic scheme, and when I met those young people, it was clear that the initiative had transformed their lives. In some cases, they had struggled to get employment elsewhere. May I encourage my hon. Friend to welcome that initiative?
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.