Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of PwC’s Youth Employment Index, particularly the finding that the United Kingdom has fallen four places to rank 27th out of 38 for youth employment outcomes among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries.

The Government has reviewed the PWC Youth Employment Index report. With 1 in 8 young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), the number of young people who are NEET has been rising too long. At Budget, we announced more than £1.5 billion of investment over the next three years, funding £820m for the Youth Guarantee to support young people to earn or learn, and an additional £725 million for the Growth and Skills Levy.

Through the expanded Youth Guarantee, young people aged 16-24 across Great Britain are set to benefit from further support into employment and learning. The details of that support are:

Support to find a job: For young people on Universal Credit who are looking for work, we are introducing a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, which over the next three years will offer nearly 900,000 16–24-year-olds a dedicated session, followed by four weeks of additional intensive support with a Work Coach. This new support will identify specific work, training, or learning opportunities locally for each young person and ensure they are supported to take those up.

Further Expanding Youth Hubs: We are establishing Youth Hubs in over 360 locations so that all young people – including those not on benefits – can access opportunities and wider support in every local area of Great Britain. Youth Hubs will bring together partners from health, skills and the voluntary sector, working closely with Mayors and local authorities to deliver joined-up community-based support.

Creating c300,000 opportunities for workplace experience and training: We will create up to 150,000 additional work experience placements and up to 145,000 additional bespoke training opportunities designed in partnership with employers, including the number of our Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). At the end of each SWAP, employers offer a guaranteed job interview to participants.

Guaranteeing jobs: For long-term unemployed 18–21-year-olds on Universal Credit, the Jobs Guarantee scheme will provide six months of paid employment. This will reach around 55,000 young people over the next three years

Preventing young people from becoming NEET: We are making it easier to identify young people who need support, by investing in better NEETs data sharing, further education attendance monitoring, and new risk of NEET data tools giving local areas more accurate insights to target support where it's needed most. We are also investing in work experience opportunities for young people at particular risk of becoming NEET, focused on pupils in state-funded Alternative Provision settings, (education provided outside mainstream or special schools for children who cannot attend a regular school—often due to exclusion, health needs, or other circumstances).

This builds on measures announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper earlier this autumn. To make sure young people move smoothly from school into post-16 education or training, we are working with schools to improve support for transitions and piloting automatic enrolment at Further Education providers for those without a confirmed place. This will make it easier for young people to stay on in education and succeed later in life.