Schools: Careers Advice

Lord Storey Excerpts

Wednesday 19th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend is right, and that is why we recently announced an upgrade from 20 to 40 hubs. The whole point is that there is a co-ordinated response, with careers leaders in schools and careers advisers, one to one and in small groups, linked to the enterprise advisers, so that there is a cluster of help for these young people.

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Brookman (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

My Lords, I think it is the Lib Dems’ chance to speak.

[Lord Storey]

My Lords, the Minister may have heard that the Education and Employers Taskforce found that more direct contact between employers and young people from an early age has a direct impact on their ability to make informed choices between the different options and routes available. How can he see that that is embedded in all schools? Should we make money directly available to schools and colleges to make this happen?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The emphasis is on the Careers & Enterprise Company and the careers service to take this forward, which indeed they are doing. We must make sure that employers have the opportunity to go into schools and meet pupils one to one. That is happening: there are some very good statistics, particularly on the back of the pilots we have done up in the north-east, to show that we are making progress.