Q+A with Alan Milburn on his 'Young People and Work' report

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

As you may have seen in the news this morning, Alan Milburn has today published his Young People and Work interim report. He warns that Britain is “at risk of a lost generation” unless urgent action is taken to tackle the growing number of young people not in education, employment or training. The review looks at everything from the reduction in entry-level jobs and apprenticeships to barriers within welfare, education and mental health support — and argues that the current system is failing to help young people build stable adult lives.

We know this is a subject of huge concern to lots of Mumsnetters, and we’re pleased to announce that next week Alan will be sitting down with Justine to answer your questions.

If there’s something you’d like to ask him, then please do post it below. As ever, one question per user please, and keep it civil. We’ll be tight on time, so short, focused questions will help us get through as many as possible. And watch this space to hear the answers!

Thanks,
MNHQ

Impossible to say, but the increase in spending has seen no improvement in outcomes

Not meeting needs in CYP can increase costs longer term. For example, the right support now can be the difference between:
Needing 1:1 or 2:1 (or even 3:1 or 4:1) as an adult.
A residential placement being needed or a placement within the community.
An ordinary residential placement or a secure placement.
24/7 care or only care for some of the time.
Contact with the justice system and not.
Being eligible for CHC funding or not.
Someone needing prolonged hospital stays in the future or not.
Educationally, it can be the difference between a successful SI or not.

Dear Alan,

All governments come up with the same soundbites i.e. we need to offer “support” which includes CV and interview help, work experience opportunities etc. Great. But where are the different solutions? How can businesses offer placements if you are paying them with one hand but taxing them to high heaven with the other? When will you stop paying private companies £££ to give young people generic CVs and no better jobsearch advice than AI can provide?

No, it's not an out of work benefit but the vast majority PIP claimants don't work. Some stats suggest only around 15% of PIP claimants work. So, it's "mostly" an out of work benefit, in that around 85% of claimants don't work.

Irrelevant, the purposes of eg pip and lcwra are not the same.

Signed, a working pip recipient

Have you read Sarah O’Connor’s book - We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work - to understand how the world is changing, what policy is needed and what work could look like for our young people?

This could be a time when a Labour government could really make the right changes. Please don’t waste this chance.

To me it looks a bit like blaming young people for the problems with the economy created by successive govts

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your questions - you can see Justine's interview with Alan here: https://www.mumsnet.com/news/alan-milburn-neet-crisis

Thanks,
MNHQ

@RhiannonEMumsnet Thanks so much to @JustineMumsnet for asking my question and the acute way she framed it. This is so so important.

Just crying here at Alan’s stats in the interview that having an EHCP makes you 80% more likely to be NEET. I didn’t know that but of course it makes sense

I’m glad Alan understands so clearly that young people with SEND who are NEET mostly really want to work.