The St Martin’s Group is pleased to have contributed to the Work and Pensions Committee’s inquiry into youth employment, education and training, following the publication of the Committee’s report on the 22nd of July.
Launched in January, the inquiry examined the causes and consequences of young people becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET), the effectiveness of the Department for Work and Pensions’ interventions, and how barriers to work can be addressed. The Committee received 189 written evidence submissions and also heard oral evidence from stakeholders across the education, employment and skills sectors. The inquiry is also set to complement Alan Milburn’s ongoing independent review into young people and work.
The St Martin’s Group submitted written evidence to the inquiry and Emily Rock, Director of The St Martin’s Group, was invited to provide oral evidence to the Committee. Both the Group’s written submission and Emily’s oral evidence are referenced within the final report on pages 32, 38, and 41, helping to inform its findings and recommendations.
Emily highlighted the strength of England’s apprenticeship system, noting that “apprenticeships have a really strong brand and are seen as the gold standard for how to train to occupational competence, both by employers and apprentices alike.”
The Committee’s report makes a number of recommendations for the government. These include calls to:
- Closely monitor the impact of the growth and skills levy;
- Do more to communicate how apprenticeship system works and help employers understand the opportunities available;
- Ensure that schools, colleges and educators are aware of and actively promote apprenticeships and other non-academic ‘earn and learn’ pathways alongside academic routes;
- Respond to the recommendations from the Milburn review within two months of it reporting;
- Bring forward a cross-departmental youth employment strategy. This should include ambitious targets for increasing the rate of youth employment, education and training, and reducing the inequalities in youth unemployment for different groups and areas;
- Shelve its plans to remove the health element of Universal Credit for under-22s;
- Undertake a comprehensive review of all its benefit rules to ensure they are all coherent with the priority of supporting youth employment, education and training;
- Undertake and publish a cost benefit analysis for the Jobs Guarantee;
- Roll out the Youth Guarantee to more local areas and make the guarantee the long-term basis for youth policy.
The St Martin’s Group welcomes the publication of the report and looks forward to continuing to work with policymakers, employers and the wider skills sector to help ensure more young people can access high-quality education, training and employment opportunities.
Read the full report here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/54402/documents/302186/default/