Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential role youth work can play in tackling youth unemployment.

Youth work is coordinated by local authorities and/or other local third party organisations and so DWP has made no recent assessment of the role youth work plays in tackling youth unemployment.

The DWP is committed to providing targeted support for young people so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. We work with young people to tackle youth unemployment in a number of ways. For example, the Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools programme (England only) targets young people aged 12-18 who are at particular risk of being out of education, employment or training (NEET).

JCP School Advisers attend secondary schools and provide information for students, teachers and parents on the alternatives to further or higher education into the world of work, such as, through traineeships and apprenticeships. They use their connections with local employers to facilitate the offer of work experience.

An external evaluation was published in April 2018 which found that, overall, it was clear the programme has been well-received by schools and other stakeholders. It was seen to take a flexible, school-led approach to provision that has allowed a range of different schools to fill gaps in their provision relating to post-school pathways. The evaluation of the programme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-jobcentre-plus-support-for-schools-programme-national-roll-out-evaluation.