Oral Answers to Questions

Linsey Farnsworth Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Connor Rand (Altrincham and Sale West) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.

[Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.

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[Pat McFadden]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting the valuable work of Wiseup Networks. He is absolutely right; work experience and mentoring can play a very important role in helping young people to find work. Confidence can be an issue for young people, so building that up is really important. I am happy to arrange a meeting between him and a Minister from this team.

[Linsey Farnsworth]

I am delighted that the Secretary of State is planning to visit the David Nieper Academy in Alfreton later this year. The school recently achieved zero NEETs at age 18 for the second year running by working closely with local industry and teaching employability skills. Local initiatives such as that should be complemented by national programmes. Will the Secretary of State provide an update on the results of the Wakefield pathfinder, which is seeking to trial a new, locally led approach to jobseeker support? Given our success in Alfreton, can he confirm whether Amber Valley could be considered as a location for the next pathfinder?

[Pat McFadden]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the excellent work of the David Nieper Academy in achieving NEET zero, and I congratulate it on doing so. She mentions the career service pathfinder in Wakefield, which was launched in April 2025. We are testing more personalised employment support, and evaluation is under way to understand how this approach works. It is right that we approach these matters with flexibility and innovation, and do not always do what we have always done.

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[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Order. I remind Members and Ministers that this is topical questions—we should have short questions and short answers.

[Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley) (Lab)]

T8. I was pleased to see that the schools White Paper outlines significant reforms to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. Will the Minister outline how the Department is working with colleagues in the Department for Education to ensure that efforts to tackle the NEETS crisis—those not in education, employment or training—including the new apprenticeships and youth guarantees, will be inclusive and accessible to young people with SEND, ensuring that they have the opportunity to progress into fulfilling careers?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

With the Minister for Skills now working jointly across the DFE and DWP, we have very clear collaboration. We have already launched eight youth guarantee trailblazers, which are testing innovative approaches to localised support for young people who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET, including targeted SEND support. We also have the Milburn review into young people and work and how better to support them.