Youth Unemployment

Lord Bates Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

I can confirm to the noble Lord that I will go back to the department with this and speak to the Director General for Service Excellence. I also offer to meet with the noble Lord so that he can share his concerns verbally and get some answers.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, I am afraid that the time allowed for this Private Notice Question has now elapsed, so we will move on to the next business.

In fact, the time allowed for this Private Notice Question has not elapsed. We have an extra five minutes, which is wonderful. I therefore call the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin.

[Baroness Benjamin (LD)]

My Lords, thank goodness for that. Black, Asian and culturally diverse people are more likely to be unemployed, and the 16 to 24 year-olds in this group are no exception. They are finding themselves at the very bottom of the pile during this pandemic and are hardest hit, with little hope of finding a job. So what pathways and policies are being put in place beyond the six-month Kickstart Scheme to reassure these vulnerable young people, many of whom are suffering from anxiety and depression?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The point I would like to make to the noble Baroness is that the ethnic minority employment rate reached a record high of 67.5%, which is an increase on the previous quarter. It is not good enough, but it was an upward trend. The point that the noble Baroness makes is completely justified; this is of great concern. I should say that the Government have unlocked an additional £150 million from dormant bank accounts to support charities and social enterprises help vulnerable individuals into work.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

I now call the next speaker, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf.

[Lord Woolf (CB) [V]]

[Inaudible.]

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

We cannot hear the noble and learned Lord, so I shall call the next speaker, the noble Baroness, Lady Stroud.

[Baroness Stroud (Con) [V]]

[Inaudible.]

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, we seem to be having some technical problems, so I suggest that the House should now adjourn for five minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, we will now recommence consideration of the Private Notice Question in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Baker, for a further three and a half minutes. I call the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf.

[Lord Woolf (CB) [V]]

I am grateful to your Lordships for dealing with the local difficulties. The point I emphasise is that, while everything I have heard about the immediate action that the Government are taking is encouraging, I am concerned about when things go wrong, as they will, and youngsters land up in the court system. What action do the Government propose to ensure that the harm already done is not aggravated by that experience?

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

The three sectors to which I would refer all noble Lords, which are recruiting young people, are health and social work, education and manufacturing. Through our sector-based work academies, we are trying to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills that they will need in the difficult days coming. We are working hard to ensure that.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Bates) (Con)]

My Lords, I am afraid that the time allowed for this Private Notice Question has now elapsed.