Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
Answered by Pat McFadden - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about.
We are investing £2.5 billion into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy to support nearly one million 16–24-year-olds into work, education or training.
Over the next three years, this investment will unlock up to 300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training, along with 200,000 jobs through the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, the £2,000 apprenticeship incentive, and guaranteeing jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Universal Credit.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 18 March 2025, whether people under 22 in receipt of benefits will lose those benefits once those reforms are implemented.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are consulting on delaying access to the health element of UC within the reformed system until someone is aged 22, on the basis that the savings generated would be reinvested into work support and training opportunities for this age group to support them into employment and improve their life chances, and that this would remove any potential disincentive to work during this time.
We are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. The consultation will close on 30 June 2025, to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to engage with and respond to the consultation.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she had made of trends in the number of young people not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Office for National Statistics estimate that nearly 1 in 8 young people are not in education, employment or training.
This is 872,000 young people, a number which has risen by 74,000 over the last year.