Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to provide an adequate allocation of funding through the Youth Guarantee Scheme for people not in work, employment or training in North Shropshire constituency.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are developing a Youth Guarantee to ensure young people aged 18-21 can access high-quality training, apprenticeships, or personalised support to find work.

As a first step, we are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers across England who are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities. We will use the learning from these Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee as it rolls out across the rest of Great Britain, including North Shropshire.

We have also recently announced that we will offer a guaranteed job to eligible young people on Universal Credit, who are unemployed for over 18 months. This forms a key part of the government’s Youth Guarantee, and further details will be announced in due course.

We also continue to deliver targeted support through the Youth Offer, which provides tailored assistance to 16–24-year-olds claiming Universal Credit. In North Shropshire, this includes a local Youth Hub offering the 6 Steps to Succeed programme – a six-week course that builds confidence, communication, and customer service skills, leading to formal qualifications.

We also want to ensure we provide support for young people with health conditions and disabled young people. If you take UC health and ESA for example, the number of young people claiming these has increased by more than 50% in the last five years from 156,000 to 239,000, with 80% of young people on the UC Health element currently citing mental health reasons or a neurodevelopmental condition among declared health conditions.

We are currently organising talking therapies to be delivered from the Youth Hub to support young people with Mental Health challenges. We are also delivering Sector-Based Work Academies for roles in Teaching Assistance, Hospitality, Warehouse, Logistics, and HGV driving. Additionally, we have run employment sessions for customers with health conditions promoting Access to Work, Adjustment Passports, and Disability Confident Employers.