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.