Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessments she has made of the effectiveness of job centre staff in helping NEETs into work or training.

This government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. The government has announced a further £1 billion investment in young people, resulting in a total £2.5 billion over the next three years into the Youth Guarantee and additional investment to the Growth and Skills Levy. This investment will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.

This includes the delivery of eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in England, expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain and introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres, providing more intensive support to 16–24-year-olds.

This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through £3,000 Youth Jobs Grants, a new £2,000 apprenticeship incentive for SMEs and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six-month job.