Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of changes in the number of 18-24 year olds claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Newbury constituency; and what steps she plans to take to help young people find job opportunities.

• Our plan to get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or employment support. This will sit alongside; a new public employment and careers service to help get more people into work, and the launch of Skills England to open new opportunities for young people.

• In August 2024, 686 young people aged 18-24 were claiming Universal Credit in the Newbury parliamentary constituency. The latest released statistics on Job Seeker’s Allowance suggest that 5 young people aged 18-24 were claiming this benefit in February 2024. Please note however, that these statistics are subject to small, randomised adjustments in order to prevent the accidental disclosure of personal information. The small number of young claimants of Job Seeker’s Allowance is particularly sensitive to the impact of these randomised adjustments.

• DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level.

• Newbury Jobcentre has a dedicated youth Work Coach team, who work closely with the National Careers Service as well, encouraging all customers to take part in any training or Work experience activities that the Jobcentre organises such as Job Fairs, Sector-based Work Academy programmes, and movement to work opportunities.