Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department engages with local authorities for the collection of data of the number of people not in education, employment or training.

The department regularly engages with local authorities with regard to monitoring not in education, employment or training (NEET) data and fulfilling their statutory duties. Statutory guidance directs local authorities to track information about all 16 and 17-year-olds (and up to 25 for those with education, health and care plans) and report monthly via the National Client Caseload Information System. This information will include whether they are NEET or have characteristics that put them at risk of becoming NEET, so that they and their delivery partners can effectively target and support those young people.

This management information is published annually and includes a NEET comparative scorecard that supports local authorities in benchmarking their performance and helps them to identify weaknesses in tracking and engagement. This information can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-neet-age-16-to-17-by-local-authority/2024-25. .

The department also works with local authorities to support the use of data tools to identify those at an increased risk of becoming NEET, so they can be monitored and targeted with extra support.