(1 week, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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The hon. Lady will be aware that business rates are a question for the Treasury, but we are looking at a range of interventions through the youth guarantee and other interventions that I have already outlined that will help to provide more opportunities for young people, including in work experience, in first jobs and in training and apprenticeships.
Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)
The reality is that a generation was lost and forgotten about under the previous Government, with NEETs increasing by 40% in Blackpool. Now, 3,000 young people are not in education, training or employment—double the national average and among the highest. Despite local initiatives, such as the Platform and the job fairs that I put on with the DWP, there is a lack of opportunity. If the Minister agrees that geography still shapes destiny, can he set out—