Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support working age non-graduates find permanent employment.

The Get Britain Working White Paper set out Governments ambition to reduce economic inactivity and increase the number of people in work.

Key proposals include:

• Creating a new jobs and careers service to support more people into work and help them progress in their careers.
• Introducing a Youth Guarantee for all 18-21 year olds in England, ensuring they have access to education, training, or help to find work.
• Developing local Get Britain Working plans to tackle economic inactivity at a local level, led by Mayors and local areas.
• Launching the Keep Britain Working review, an independent review into the role of UK employers in reducing health-related inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces.
• Reforming health and disability benefits to support people who can work to remain in or start employment.

In addition, more pre-employment training courses are being made available to benefit claimants through an expansion of DWP’s Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). (Up from 80,000 a year in 2021/22 to 2024/25, to 100,000 a year from 2025/26.)

SWAPs offer certain participants in England and Scotland the opportunity of training towards a job in a particular industry, alongside a work placement and a guaranteed interview.

We have set out plans to overhaul our support for employers by hosting summits with representatives across sectors crucial to growth, serving employers through a dedicated team, providing an account manager for employers and commissioning Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent review into the role of employers in reducing health-related inactivity and promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces.

In addition, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is tasked with making work pay through upgrading workers' rights and engaging businesses, with a focus on key sectors to take advantage of new opportunities and promote growth. The DBT's Employment Rights Bill and Industrial Strategy Council aim to make work more secure, boost wages, and help working people thrive.