Jobs Market

Viscount Younger of Leckie Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for raising that interesting proposal. I do not know the detail of it, so I would have to take it away. However, that is very much what we are doing with an element of our youth guarantee, as we heard earlier from my noble friend Lady Smith. That is about giving a six-month guaranteed job for young people who have been receiving universal credit and looking for work for more than 18 months. That is the kind of model that we are trying out to tackle that particularly hard-to-get-to and important part of unemployment.

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

My Lords, I am also a glass-half- full person, but in relation to what the noble Lord has said, there are two major reviews into the welfare system with a link to work. They are due to report later this year—at last—but their recommendations are likely to require primary legislation. There seems to be a perfect storm of inaction or delay, with no decisions expected to be taken on welfare this Parliament. What, then, is actually happening on welfare?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

To echo the words of my noble friend Lady Smith, all this is around reforming welfare and the way to get people into work more comprehensively. These are serious, deep-seated issues that we must take time over, but as I have said, the Milburn review, which is about tackling NEETs—which I think the House will agree is one of the most serious problems that the country, the economy and young people face—is working at pace to deliver on that.