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1. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Catherine Atkinson

   Advanced Manufacturing

   <Question HRSContentId="{BB95F4C4-24C8-45A0-997A-9DB471D86F5B}">T3. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{ACE371C4-FB9C-47A1-99B7-E5B46B74879F}" /> Before the Budget, I wrote to the Chancellor to flag that many of the challenges facing the Ministry of Justice were rooted in long-term financial pressures. Austerity saw justice spending cut by a third, and although the Government have increased funding, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says that an additional £3.6 billion would be needed if we were to return to pre-austerity spending per person. Will the Treasury work with the Justice Secretary to ensure that our justice system is properly funded and that future crises are prevented?</Question>

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2. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Brian Leishman

   Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

   Good morning, Ms McVey; it is a pleasure to have you in the Chair. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for introducing the debate. The Milburn review gets a lot right. It is right to say that the NEET rate is so high because of decades of structural dysfunction in education, health, welfare and employment support. It is right to say that poverty shapes early childhood and is a contributing factor to how children grow up. It is also right to say that care-experienced young people are particularly at risk of disengagement. Clearly, a reason for that is that support and stability fall away when they are most needed. The fact that 84% of NEET young people surveyed want to find a job, education or training shows that young people do have a desire for work, contrary to the stereotyping by some politicians and some in the media. Crucially, the report highlights that there are fewer entry-level roles and apprenticeships available—their number is down over 40% in the last decade. The Government must take an early-interventionist approach, provide intensive employment support and work with organisations and charities with comprehensive experience in this area. However, the Milburn report is weak on the role of incentives in the social security system. It suggests that the system’s design encourages young people to claim and remain on health-related benefits, rather than participate in work and training. That narrow framing is wrong and does not take into account individuals with complex needs having to negotiate a difficult system. Claiming the UC health element of personal independent payment is no easy process. The Government must end the degrading manner of the system and correct the fact that people are often wrongly denied support as a result. For so many, the act of claiming is an undignified and demeaning endurance test. That is a stain on the state. Reform of the system is needed, but it must be achieved with care, compassion and investment.

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3. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Brian Leishman

   Poundland

   I thank the Minister for her answers, and my thoughts are with all the staff at the Alloa store. What is happening with Poundland is the latest example of private equity being allowed to do as it pleases—the type of behaviour that, frankly, has destroyed our high streets. Both the UK and Scottish Governments need to act to stop private equity raiding our towns and then upping sticks when it has decided that there is nothing else to extract. Will the Government take decisive action, and take steps such as curbing profit shifting and tax abuse by private equity?

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4. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Brian Leishman

   Budget Resolutions

   The Budget is predicated on inspiring hope and building a fairer, more equal society. I welcome and support that. Crucially, to deliver that, we need to understand and learn from the past. After world war one, the country became more inward-looking. Adopting the economics of austerity led to low growth, mass unemployment, the general strike and the great depression. Two decades later, we had another war, but after world war two, the Labour Government really did grasp the politics and the economics of hope. We created a social security system, built the NHS, and nationalised our mines, steel, railways and even the Bank of England, all as we emerged from the ravages of a war in which towns and cities were bombed and half a million of our people died. We do not even need to look as far back as that to see the politics of hope in action. The 1974 Labour party manifesto said that it would tackle the severe economic problems of the day with democratic socialist policies, the aim being to secure “a fundamental and irreversible shift in the balance of wealth and power in favour of working people and their families.” Five decades on, we again need that degree of ambition. We live in significant times. The most terrifying set of questions we have in this place is on defence. We constantly hear, “We’ve got to get to 5%. Let’s cut welfare to do it. Let’s issue war bonds. Let’s get ready for war—we’re already at war.” Among the clamour for increased defence spending and defence of our way of life, it does not often get mentioned that nearly 4 million people use food banks, and that we have 14.5 million people living in food insecurity. The “Be Ready” campaign encourages people to stockpile three days-worth of non-perishable food; how do we think people living in food insecurity will manage that? Where on their list of priorities is buying a power bank or a wind-up radio, when they are debating whether to put their heating on or to eat a meal? Constituents regularly tell me that there is too much month at the end of their money; doctors tell me how under-resourced the health service is; teachers tell me that kids are turning up to school exhausted from hunger; and community groups and churches across Alloa and Grangemouth tell me that they are starting to make warm spaces available again as we head into winter, so when politicians and media commentators talk about people making sacrifices, I find it insulting. In Clackmannanshire, residents are expected to have 55 years of good health, making it one of the regions of Scotland with lower healthy life expectancy. In Grangemouth, people generally die younger than in the Falkirk council area, and before the Scottish national average. This Budget has committed billions more to military spending that will inevitably go to private capital firms and arms manufacturers; all the while, the cost of living crisis rages on, and public services are still under the most immense pressure. The political choice we face is between weapons and war, and wages and welfare. We should bear that in mind, as well as the 14.5 million people who are hungry while we talk about hope.

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5. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bill Esterson

   Cost of Living

   The measures in the Budget to help with the cost of living through cuts in energy bills were welcome. The Chancellor also said that he would adopt one of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s recommendations not to add further policy costs to bills, but can I encourage him to look at one of our other recommendations, which is to move policy costs from electricity to gas? That would help people take up electric heat and batteries, which will enable them to take advantage of the tariffs that are available now.

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6. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bambos Charalambous

   Child Trust Funds

   <Question HRSContentId="{E6CB83AD-AC9B-4724-AEBA-B9D6608AF054}">11. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{0522B8F8-5D00-48B1-B718-5C3FB789D8F4}">What estimate he has made of the number of child trust funds received by intended beneficiaries. </QuestionText></Question>

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7. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Bambos Charalambous

   Child Trust Funds

   I congratulate the Minister on her announcement, which will enable over 120,000 young people who lack capacity to access their child trust funds. That will make a huge difference to them. As she is aware, there are an estimated 800,000 unclaimed child trust funds, worth approximately £1.3 billion. What steps is she taking to enable those young people, who often are unaware of the existence of those funds, to access them? Will she work with the Share Foundation to find a long-term solution?

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8. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Baggy Shanker

   Cost of Living

   With too many Derby residents dreading their bills as the nights draw in, I welcome the news that 93% of the households in our city will be given £100 of breathing space in their energy bills this winter, but whether it is the weekly shop or filling the car, budgets are being stretched from every direction. What other steps can the Chancellor take to give families who are struggling to make ends meet the extra breathing space that they need?

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9. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Antonia Bance

   Poundland

   I am standing here on behalf of the workers in Tipton centre and on Union Street in Wednesbury, all of whom provide a vital service to my constituency. If it emerges that a viable bid to keep Poundland intact was blocked, putting 12,000 jobs at risk, what specific powers will the Secretary of State use to hold Gordon Brothers to account? Will the Minister now establish an urgent review of whether our corporate governance and insolvency frameworks give sufficient protection against asset stripping and short-term financial engineering at the cost of jobs and our high streets?

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10. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Anna Dixon

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. He will be aware that Milburn’s interim review found that 23% of young carers are not in employment, education or training and that 40% of those have spent more than 18 months out of employment, education or training, yet they have amazing resilience and experience to bring to a job. Does my hon. Friend agree that, in the review’s final report, we must outline a package of support for young carers and encourage businesses to take a chance on young carers and give them an opportunity?

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11. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andy McDonald

    Advanced Manufacturing

    I welcome the Budget’s council tax rebate, which will provide much-needed relief to over 50,000 households in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, but hardship remains. The Trussell Trust reports that local food banks distributed over 10,000 emergency food parcels last year—up almost 50% on pre-pandemic levels. Does the Minister agree that more ambitious action is needed, and will he ensure that the Government’s response to the Milburn and Timms reviews does not further restrict social security support, leaving people unable to afford the essentials, and instead advances Labour’s commitment to end the need for emergency food?

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12. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andy MacNae

    Budget Resolutions

    It is a pleasure to speak in this debate on a Budget delivered in an extraordinarily difficult global economic climate and with limited fiscal headroom. Yet I do believe that it will be remembered as both radical and important in prioritising cheaper energy and focusing on prevention, which is a massive step. Fiscal devolution and supporting high streets and entrepreneurs are significant measures that will ultimately bring significant benefits to the residents of Rossendale and Darwen, particularly now that Lancashire has an opportunity to join the mayoral pathway. On that point, I take this opportunity to urge the leadership of Lancashire county council to listen to businesses and community leaders and finally agree to a mayor and grasp the huge opportunities that this Government have offered. More broadly, the Chancellor has balanced immediate support and the need for breathing space, with long-term reforms needed to build a global economy for the 21st century. At its heart, the Budget lays the foundations for a reindustrialisation strategy capable of bringing good jobs to places that need them most. This vision resonates powerfully in Rossendale and Darwen and across the UK. Making more things in more places means secure, well-paid jobs and a more resilient country. That is why we established the Reindustrialisation Research Group, bringing together over 90 Labour MPs to support the Prime Minister’s vision and help translate it into action. It is good to see the Budget addressing the key questions that have been raised ever since the Prime Minister first championed the idea. First and foremost is clarity on objectives. That is important, because if we judge economic success only through national GDP, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past, pursuing the easiest growth while overlooking the towns and communities that were left on the sidelines for far too long. Instead, reindustrialisation must deliver good growth everywhere, spreading jobs, hope and opportunity across the country. The Chancellor has been clear that reindustrialisation is also essential to national resilience. We must once again produce the steel, fuels, chemicals and other things that we need to be secure in a turbulent world. In understanding that, we see that reindustrialisation is far more than just a rebrand of the modern industrial strategy. Supporting high-growth economic clusters is vital, but it cannot be the whole answer. As the Red Book itself states: “Reindustrialisation means more good jobs around the country. It means more towns and cities making and innovating and having a stronger role in the national economy.” This is a UK-wide project to build the great British businesses of the future, whatever and wherever they may be, combining our proud manufacturing heritage with world-class innovation, creativity, research and development. That means tackling the constraints holding firms back, and the Budget is clear on what they are: high energy costs, limited access to finance, procurement and so on. Addressing those at a national level while drawing on the power of devolution, and supporting businesses through powerful local partnerships, provides a comprehensive approach to unleashing the potential of British manufacturers. We need to take up the challenge with urgency. We must recognise that right now we are losing good businesses, ones that could compete and win if only they were on a level playing field. So, the first step towards reindustrialisation must be to halt deindustrialisation. Among other things, that means further action on industrial energy costs. We called for an extension of the British industry competitiveness scheme to all manufacturing companies in the Budget. I realise the constraints the Chancellor was under, but we must recognise that this is unfinished business. We need to continue to look at all options for immediate measures.

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13. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andy MacNae

    Budget Resolutions

    Absolutely. Ceramics is one of those industries, along with steel, chemicals, fuels and so on, that is foundational to our economy. It is part of our national resilience and our national story. It is vital that we retain it in the interests of a safe, secure and stable country, so I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We need the structure to effectively deliver reindustrialisation and we need to be clear that that requires a whole-Government approach. It needs dedicated capacity empowered to drive implementation, and policy co-designed with businesses and trade unions. Finally, we need to turn ambition into measurable national objectives. The ReRG proposed a target of 1 million additional jobs in production by 2035. That would help to rebalance our economy and ensure that prosperity is felt in every part of Britain. The forthcoming 10-year plan is our opportunity to make that vision real. I urge the Government to build on the Budget and work with the ReRG, businesses and trade unions to back British manufacturing and ensure we deliver good jobs in every community.

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14. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andrew Ranger

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    I beg to move, That this House has considered the findings of the Milburn Review into young people and work: interim report, published on 28 May 2026. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing me to bring this debate forward. Each generation is judged on the question of whether we leave the next one better off. Will they have greater opportunity, more security and the same hope that we had? Around 1 million young people across the United Kingdom are NEETs: not in education, employment or training. That is one in eight. Of those, six in 10 have never had a job—and the interim Milburn review warns that, without action, that number will be one in six within five years. If we do not act with the magnitude, imagination and substance that this moment demands, we risk failing on that generational question. How did we get here—or, to put it better, how did we allow our young people to end up in this position? The systems set up in the shadow of the second world war to support and enable a good life for everyone in this country regardless of postcode or wealth are at the very core of meeting the challenge, but we must ask whether they are working as they should. Why does our welfare system spend £25 on benefits for young people for every £1 it spends on helping them into work? Why are young people who could work with the right support being signed off and left there with no route back? Why do 67% of NEET young people tell us that the curriculum does not prepare them for work or life? The stark reality is that the institutional infrastructure that accompanies the system has been hollowed out, without anything to take its place. That is the youth clubs and community spaces where young people learn to work together, build relationships and find their place in the world; or the Saturday jobs, where they develop vital soft skills, learn the value of responsibility and discover what it means to be part of a team.

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15. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andrew Ranger

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    Yes, I totally agree; I will come on to that point later in my speech. Too often, politics runs on short-term decisions, whatever the party or the Government. On this issue, short-termism will not do. The young people affected will not accept it, and nor should we. Picture a young person in my constituency of Wrexham—let us call him James. He is talented, but school never worked for him. He moves on to further education, but it is the wrong fit and does not work out. Before long, he is signed off and written off. This all comes back to a moral mission that touches every postcode. The problem cannot be solved by the state alone; it needs businesses, third sector organisations and community groups—every one of us. It takes a village to raise a child. This is going to take a nation. Six years ago, we asked young people to carry an extraordinary burden to protect older and vulnerable people from a pandemic. They did it without question. They sacrificed experiences, milestones and opportunities that the rest of us took for granted. That sacrifice is not without its aftershocks, many of which we have seen come to prominence in the last few years, particularly in health and educational outcomes.

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16. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andrew Ranger

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    I totally agree; that is another thing that I will come on to in my speech. It is now our turn to repay the debt that we owe young people. Many players will help us to solve this crisis, and one of them is business, both local and national. I want to recognise the businesses already meeting the challenge. Examples from my own constituency include Moneypenny. At national level, Sainsbury’s and Greene King, among others, are giving 100,000 much-needed opportunities to young people. Those are vital, but I ask all businesses to give young people opportunities. They may not necessarily have the skills on paper—on their CVs—but they are undoubtedly talented and will repay the chance that they are given. Spend the extra time doing an in-person interview with an applicant, who will gain much more than they would have in talking to an AI chatbot. Look past the gaps in their CV and see the potential behind it.

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17. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andrew Ranger

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. That is a really good ask of the final review. We must look past the gaps in CVs and see the potential behind them; that faith will be repaid many times over. Let me turn to the education sector. Milburn reported that two in three NEETs say that the curriculum did not prepare them for work. Careers education often arrives too late, at a time when decisions about the future are already being made. Research by Education and Employers shows that children’s ideas about what they can achieve are being formed by the age of seven and are already being narrowed by gender, background and whom they see around them. Careers education must start earlier than it does currently. By seven, every child should be meeting people from the world of work and seeing where their learning could take them—not to choose a career at that stage, but to open those doors before they are closed. In the Netherlands, fewer than one in 20 young people is NEET. Work-based learning is built into vocational education. Employers and colleges plan placements together, through a national body that brings them to the same table. Work experience is not an add-on; it is part of the course. To the third sector organisations doing remarkable work across the country, representatives of some of which join us in the Public Gallery today, I say thank you for all the work that you are doing. Keep going and be loud about it. You are our partners in this mission, and we have a great deal to learn from what you are achieving. In Wrexham, WeMindTheGap’s six-month programme is doing exactly this—getting young people back into work and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd North (Gill German) said, helping them to build soft skills: confidence and resilience. I say to the Government that we must share the risk with employers. Support must not stop the day a young person starts work, because a job landed is not a job done. The mentoring and coaching that got them through the door must carry on through the first months, when too many placements fall apart. Let us work with those third sector organisations; let us support them, too, to deliver this. We need to strip away the paperwork. Too many employers who want to help are put off before they even begin. Every form that stands between a willing business and a young person is an opportunity lost. Also, we need to open up the data. Information exists, but it is not joined up and no one is accountable for the whole of it. That is resulting in a hidden cohort of about 314,000 young people who are NEET, claiming no benefits and invisible to the very systems meant to help them. If we cannot see them, we cannot help them. However, the answer cannot be designed entirely in Whitehall. Every place knows its own picture best. It knows which employers are hiring, which schools are struggling and which young people have dropped off the radar and why. In my constituency and many others, it will be the local authorities, the schools, the further education providers, the employers and organisations like WeMindTheGap that know the young people behind the numbers. We need a whole-society approach to tackling this crisis. It takes more than all the individual elements acting alone. It requires families, communities, businesses, educators and public services working together, united by a shared responsibility to give every young person the opportunity to thrive—a system to mind the gaps. If we achieve the above, back in Wrexham James will be getting the support he deserves, on a work placement with a local business, backed by a mentor and a coach every step of the way, slowly but surely getting back on his feet. Where do we want this generation to be in the next 10 or 20 years? Do we want NEET rates still to be rising because the big decisions, some not easy, were pushed down the track and never delivered, or do we want the phrase NEET to be a historical term—something that was, not something that is? Alan Milburn’s final report will be the moment of truth—not just for us in Parliament, but for businesses, third sector organisations, schools and colleges. It will ask whether we are willing to be partners in the great challenge of our time—one national moral mission; one team. I thank all the wonderful organisations and individuals who have made this debate possible, and for everything they do to support young people across the country. I also thank Alan Milburn and his team, including Peter Hyman and Shuab Gamote, for their visit to Wrexham to meet our incredible young people as part of the wider work on this report. They have had a massive impact already, and the impact on the future of our country will be substantial. In Wrexham, 10 years from now, where is James? He is in secure, long-term work and is happy, having built a life that he is proud of and fulfilled by. That is all we should want for every young person.

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18. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Andrew Ranger

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    I thank all hon. Members for coming today, for their valuable contributions and for sharing their experiences and the work going on in their areas. Doing that is vital, because we can all learn from one another and take this mission forward. I also thank my hon. Friend the Minister and the spokespeople from the other parties, the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) and the hon. Member for Fylde (Mr Snowden), for their responses. The number of people contributing today shows how important this issue is across the UK. We are at an important moment, because the publication of the final Milburn report is coming up. How we respond here is vital; it will define our country and our legacy here for many years into the future. It will need all of us to fix this issue, and I hope that we can work across the House and beyond to do that. It is clear, from everyone’s contributions here today, that we need a whole-system approach, covering transport, the economic approach, early intervention, local design and delivery, and so many other things that hon. Members have mentioned. Once again, I thank them all for contributing to today’s debate, and thank you, Ms McVey. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the findings of the Milburn Review into Young people and work: interim report, published on 28 May 2026.

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19. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Amanda Martin

    Advanced Manufacturing

    <Question HRSContentId="{5CFC851A-71D1-4291-A1F5-8C20E01236F3}">12. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{1BECFB97-ABAF-4643-A952-1E30ED7BB638}">What steps he is taking to help deliver economic growth through advanced manufacturing. </QuestionText></Question>

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20. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Amanda Martin

    Advanced Manufacturing

    Although Portsmouth is on the south coast, its legacy of deindustrialisation and privatisation brings us challenges familiar to many cities and towns across the north. Reindustrialisation must be national and not confined to the north. The loss of shipbuilding under the Tories devastated Pompey, but we are resilient and proud, and—despite huge losses—have retained a world-class defence cluster in advanced manufacturing and hugely skilled jobs in companies such as Accuracy International, Harwin, Griffon Marine and Airbus. To enable real reindustrialisation across the whole country, will the Minister commit to a national reindustrialisation strategy that protects advanced manufacturing, backs innovation and drives growth?

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21. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Amanda Hack

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this incredibly important debate. Unsurprisingly, Alan Milburn laid out in his interim report that the current system is failing a generation. I had an opportunity to host a meeting with Alan and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to launch Opening Shift, alongside the British Retail Consortium, which has worked with the Department for Work and Pensions and retailers. Opening Shift offers more than 11,000 work placements for young people, with a view to reaching 100,000 jobs by the end of the Parliament, getting young people on to the very first rung of the ladder. In 2012, the coalition Government scrapped compulsory work experience, despite major objections from employers. A 2015 poll by the British Chambers of Commerce found that 82% of bosses said that pupils under 16 should be offered work placements. For employers to feel confident to take a risk on employing anybody, let alone a young person with limited experience, they need to have the experience of seeing young people grow and develop in the workplace. The role of work placements should never have been downplayed. Critically, they are a first step into the world of work. In my earlier career, I was lucky enough to work alongside the inspirational Leicestershire Education Business Company, an independent local charity set up to support employers. It still organises and supports young people and employers with work experience locally today. Data from comparable countries shows that when more 14 to 16-year-olds have employment experience, fewer young people are NEET. In almost every conversation with a NEET young person, the authors of the review found an interest, a passion and a talent, despite the barriers holding them back. I had the same experience on the Work and Pensions Committee. Young people want to work; we just need to give them the inspiration.

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22. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alistair Strathern

    Poundland

    My fair-minded constituents are rightly appalled at the news that the jobs of our local shop workers in Poundland are being put at risk by exploitative owners who appear intent on asset stripping, rather than preserving a store that has been returned to profitability thanks to the staff’s hard work, and which has viable offers on the table. How can we make sure that, as a Government, we are using all the levers at our disposal to force the American owners to do right by the stores? What lessons do the Government think we might need to learn to ensure that we can do a better job of protecting our high street assets in the future?

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23. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex McIntyre

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for securing this important debate. Alan Milburn’s interim report is stark. Nearly 1 million young people aged 16 to 24 are not in employment, education or training. In Gloucester, around 2,500 young people are in that position. When I speak with them, I hear the same thing time and again: they have worked hard, but the opportunities that were meant to be there for them have turned out to be closed doors. They are not lazy: 84% of young people who are out of work or training say that they want a job or to be in education. The interim report is clear that we need a whole-of-society effort. I welcome the Prime Minister’s leadership on the issue, but it must be matched by local leadership across the country. That is why I have made it my mission to ensure that no young person in Gloucester is left behind. At the end of this month, I am hosting the Gloucestershire Futures summit at Kingsholm stadium with Gloucestershire county council, bringing schools and colleges, employers, health services, local Government and the voluntary sector into one room. Gloucester’s young people have talent in abundance, supported by fantastic schools, local colleges and training providers. What they need are open doors and clear pathways. I am hopeful that our upcoming summit will help build the consensus needed to deliver them. I am delighted that the Skills Minister will join us for the summit. One of the big things that I hear from young people is how demoralising it is to apply for hundreds of jobs, only to be ghosted and not receive a reply from employers. However, small businesses in Gloucester tell me that they receive hundreds of applications for a single role. They want to do their bit, give feedback and support young people, but they need help to do it. I am pleased that this Government are acting. The £3,000 youth jobs grant supports any employer that takes on a young person who has been out of work for six months, and the new partnership with hospitality businesses aims to create 100,000 jobs for young people. What more can the Government do to help smaller businesses with practical recruitment support as well as grants to play their part in tackling this crisis? Gloucestershire’s young people have talent in abundance. I believe that it is our moral mission in Gloucestershire to support them. What they need are open doors. I look forward to Alan Milburn’s final report helping us to open them.

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24. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex McIntyre

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    I wonder if the hon. Gentleman might remind the House how much employer national insurance contributions are for an under 21-year-old earning less than £50,000 a year.

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25. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex McIntyre

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    Fifty per cent of nothing is still nothing.

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26. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Labour·Al Carns

    Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

    Nearly a million young people are outside education, employment or training. We call them NEETs, but we should consign that term to history as it defines them entirely by what they are not, and it tells us nothing about what they can do or how they can get there. I have been spending a lot of time in Selly Oak. Earlier this year, I brought local employers together to talk about what they were seeing. They told me that too many young people were reaching them without the confidence or basic communication skills needed to get into work. Some of those problems start exceptionally early: at 10 to 16, not 16 to 24. I have spoken before about boys and young men. Just 62% of boys are school-ready, compared with 75% of girls, and they fall further behind through school. The NEET rate nearly trebles at 18, when the statutory participation age ends. If school has not worked for them and there is no obvious next step, it is disappointingly easy to drift out of sight. I am convinced that we need employers’ involvement much earlier with work exposure to inspire, embolden and enlighten, and to close the gap between expectation and reality across the job market. The Government should be obsessed with closing that gap. As we invest in rebuilding British industrial capacity, we need to think about where the workforce will come from. If a company is expanding a factory with public support, who are we training to work there? If the company knows it will need technicians in five years, it should be working with schools and colleges much earlier. An apprenticeship will not be the immediate answer for everyone, as some young people will need help before they are ready or before an employer is willing to give them their first experience of work. The youth guarantee needs to reach those people. Alan Milburn estimates the annual cost of youth inactivity at £125 billion, which is an extraordinary amount of money. Minister, are we working across the Department for Education, the Department of Health and DWP? Are we working earlier with 10 to 16-year-olds? Are we closing the gap between expectations and the reality of the job market? We should be much better at bringing employers and education together, and in doing so we should consign the term “NEETs” to history.

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27. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·SNP·Lara Bird

    Budget Resolutions

    There has been quite a lot of chat about future generations throughout this Budget debate. I feel like I have aged a lot over the last four months in this place, but I want to speak today on behalf of a younger generation and, more importantly, the young people who live in my constituency. Although he is not in his place any more, I would like the Secretary of State to put himself in the shoes of a young person in my constituency—a young person who has come to me in the last few days to tell me that since the Chancellor’s announcements last week, they are feeling not hopeful, but fearful. I would like the Secretary of State to imagine that he is a young person who has been to university, worked hard and made personal sacrifices to do everything that he was told he was supposed to do. I would like the Secretary of State to understand what it feels like to be a 21-year-old today, and to try to see how much breathing space there really is for entire generations of young people, who feel more hopeless than ever before, who have been let down time and again by successive UK Governments, and who, in my constituency, despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, were dragged out against their will, and so have come of age in broken Brexit Britain. Let us imagine that this young person in my constituency studied for their undergraduate degree in an English or Welsh university and took out the standard tuition and maintenance loan. This young person might now have £60,000 of debt—an amount that they will watch rise year on year, even after they start paying it off, because this Government have changed the terms of a contract that young people signed in good faith. Because the Chancellor has failed to reverse the cruel repayment threshold freeze implemented by his predecessor, young people face the reality of paying off their student loans for the entirety of their working life. Many young people, my peers included, have said that they feel that they will never be debt-free, and I want the Secretary of State to understand how it feels to be a young person at the beginning of their career, staring at that much insecurity and financial instability. In Scotland, we do not punish people for pursuing higher education, but our young people who choose to study elsewhere in the UK face consequences that were previously unimaginable. Debts have moved past stifling, and are now simply oppressive. To me, that speaks of a Government who are comfortable targeting low-income graduates for tax revenue, squeezing young people’s disposable income and making it impossible for them to save. If this young person finds a job—perhaps in hospitality, for which Labour has refused to cut VAT—and they are paid the minimum wage, they will earn enough to make student loan repayments, at 9% of their earnings. Given the ever-rising cost of living, there is almost no chance that they will be able to make savings. They likely find it near impossible to get to the end of every month in credit. Because of Labour’s personal allowance freeze, that young person will see a larger chunk of their income eaten by taxes, without gaining any purchasing power. I want the Secretary of State to imagine how it feels to be a young person who, on payday, instead of feeling financially secure, feels despair. Many young people across Scotland and my constituency, and further afield, cannot rely on financial support from their family. If that young person is renting a flat, they are likely to see their energy bills increase again in January, taking the total to more than £1,000 more than Labour initially promised, and dwarfing any minuscule changes made by announcements last week. In Scotland, that young person might be one of the 800,000 Scots now paying higher gas bills to subsidise English taxpayers, or one of the 150,000 Scots relying on heating oil who receive no support at all for that—this Labour Government so often forget about rural communities. That young person will be watching as the Resolution Foundation predicts that the disposable income of the average household is set to fall by £1,000. For a young person who is already struggling to put fuel in their car, that is a terrifying concept. For a young person on the cusp of their adult life, who has done nothing but work hard, but who is staring in the face of job insecurity, the fear of never receiving a state pension, and the certainty that they will never be able to afford a house, and who has lifelong student debt hanging over their head and monthly costs that completely consume their earnings, the Budget is cold, hard confirmation that the new iteration of a Labour Government is no better than the last. Young people in Scotland deserve to feel hopeful, and to have ample opportunities to learn, save and work. That is not what they get from this Labour Budget.

    Hansard source
28. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Public Services and Economic Growth: Scotland

    Economic growth in the north-east of Scotland and our green transition rely on the carbon capture and storage project at Peterhead. Would the Minister make clear what assessment the UK Government have made of whether it will still go ahead, given their massive cuts to the project?

    Hansard source
29. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·SNP·Chris Law

    Poundland

    The news that Poundland has filed a notice of intention to enter administration will cause deep concern to the many thousands of employees whose jobs are in jeopardy and the millions of customers who rely on its low prices. With almost 50 stores in Scotland, including the Poundland in my city of Dundee, my thoughts are with the many families who are now worried about jobs and livelihoods at the worst possible time, the run-up to Christmas. Given that discount retailers would normally be expected to perform strongly during a cost of living crisis, does the Minister recognise that Poundland’s potential administration is yet another damning failure of this UK Government to improve consumer confidence and the health of UK high streets, and to alleviate the financial pressures facing low-income households?

    Hansard source
30. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    Will my right hon. Friend give way?

    Hansard source
31. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    My right hon. Friend is making a very powerful speech. Does he share my disappointment and dismay with this fact—that, for every young Brit who is hired today, 27 young foreign workers are hired? Young people are being locked out of the labour market because of mass immigration.

    Hansard source
32. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    One million—that is the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training. Youth unemployment stands at 14%. That is a scandal and a crisis. Far from giving young people hope, this Budget throws them under a bus, frankly, because it is fundamentally unfair. We are losing a generation. This Budget is unfair to the 16-year-old who has finished their GCSEs and wants to start working, but who faces zero opportunities to find an apprenticeship or learn a skill. It is unfair and offers no hope to the 21-year-old who has done the right thing and studied for a degree, but who has come out with a qualification that is not opening any doors and has instead saddled them with crippling debt and directed them to the welfare office to claim out-of-work benefits. This Budget is also unfair to the British taxpayer, who currently lays out £22 billion a year in student loan payments. That is a taxpayer who will see hundreds of billions of pounds never repaid; a taxpayer who faces chronic shortages in our labour market, particularly in the NHS, construction and hospitality. We have a lost generation, and this Budget does nothing for our young people.

    Hansard source
33. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. That is exactly the point that I am about to make. How did we get to this youth unemployment crisis? For the past 30 years, starting with Tony Blair, we have sold one promise to young people: that they need to get a degree, regardless of what it is or where it is from, and they will be set up for life. However, for so many young people today, that has been exposed as a lie. We have 700,000 graduates currently unemployed, some 400,000 of whom are claiming welfare. Average graduate debt stands at £50,000, average graduate salaries are falling, and graduate hiring is disappearing. For many of those young people, it is not so much that they have taken out a student loan; they have been saddled with a life sentence. It is no wonder they cannot start saving, buy a house, get married or think of starting a family. They are being crippled by the system, and this Budget does nothing to support them.

    Hansard source
34. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    I am afraid that is just a drop in the ocean compared with the enormity of the challenge we face. I will come on to skills and apprenticeships in one minute, but I will dwell on how we got to this great university scam, as I call it. We have some of the best universities in the country, and I will always defend them, but our universities are failing many of our young people and offering awful value for money. Some of the courses are not worth the paper they are written on. Is it really right that vice-chancellors are earning huge salaries but offering awful job prospects? Do some of them really deserve their £200,000 or £300,000 salaries when their institutions are offering job prospects for only 40% of their graduates? No. Do we really need courses in politics, sexuality and gender, with a vice-chancellor on more than £200,000? No. That is all while we have gaps in our NHS, construction and hospitality. That is why a Reform Government would deal with this issue. We would reduce the student loan budget by 20% and invest the billions saved into helping our country. We would train up British doctors and nurses and scrap the arbitrary cap on medical training places. Let me say a word about immigration, because it has been a big factor. Many universities have got fat on foreign students. I am afraid that I have to say it: the last Conservative Government opened the floodgates to international students. It is something that I started to reverse when I was Home Secretary. As a result, universities have been selling immigration, not education. As a consequence—as I said earlier—for every young Brit who is employed in this country, 27 young foreign workers are also employed.

    Hansard source
35. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    I am sorry, but I do not have much time. I will try to come back to the hon. Lady. What I have described is locking our young people out of the labour market. A Reform Government would put British workers at the front of the queue for British jobs. That used to be common sense, but today it is controversial. Moving on to apprenticeships and skills, I am afraid that this Budget is conspicuously silent on investing in skills, apprenticeships and the vocational trades. The number of apprenticeships has almost halved over the past decade, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses and for entry-level positions.

    Hansard source
36. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    The reality is that £100 million is a small amount compared to the enormity of the challenge that we are required to face, as I said to the hon. Gentleman’s colleague, the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies). Employers are not taking on young people—that is a fact and it is borne out by the statistics. Employers are not taking on apprentices, because it has become too expensive for them. It has become heavily regulated and bureaucratic, and the training requirements are now too rigid.

    Hansard source
37. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Suella Braverman

    Budget Resolutions

    The hon. Lady is on a weak point there, because it was the last Conservative Government who started the apprenticeship movement, and apprenticeships peaked at around 600,000 in 2016. I was very pleased to champion apprenticeships in my constituency, and thousands of young people in Fareham and Waterlooville have taken them up, but that number has been halved—we are now at about 300,000 apprentices. A Reform UK Government would introduce an apprenticeship wage credit. We would pay small and medium-sized enterprises 30% of an apprentice’s salary to help them with the cost of taking on a new person, investing in our future and in young people. I want to live in a country where a young person is able to enjoy opportunities to prosper, work hard and thrive in their life, regardless of where they come from, what their parents did or the kind of school they went to. I am afraid that this Budget offers precious little to our young people and zero hope to the next generation, and is a real disappointment for our young people, who are crying out for hope and opportunity. That is why I will be voting against it tonight.

    Hansard source
38. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Richard Tice

    Advanced Manufacturing

    The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for Swansea West (Torsten Bell), and the Chancellor have both inadvertently misled the House by saying that Government borrowing is coming down. It is not: in the Budget, borrowing for this year will be almost £20 billion higher than at the March OBR forecast; and for the lifetime of the Budget book, it will be £65 billion higher.

    Hansard source
39. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Richard Tice

    Poundland

    Today the Tory party has shamefully said that it does not give two hoots about 12,000 workers, including dozens in my constituency. What is going on here is that the management of Poundland are very concerned that the owners of Poundland are looking to abuse the insolvency process to maximise their financial returns, not giving two hoots about 12,000 workers. Will the Minister confirm that the Government will do everything they can to ensure that Gordon Brothers will not act as a rogue owner by abusing the insolvency process?

    Hansard source
40. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Reform·Andrew Rosindell

    Government Borrowing: Economic Impact

    <Question HRSContentId="{7632CD11-2B50-4C3A-8A5B-976870A0A709}">6. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{0697C34A-D1B3-4C20-AD93-552C1FD7AA3D}">What assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of Government borrowing on the economy.</QuestionText></Question>

    Hansard source