STORY
Alan Milburn has warned that the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training has become one of the most serious challenges facing the country. His interim report said more than one million young people are now in the NEET category, with the UK performing worse than comparable European countries and the problem increasingly linked to ill health, disability and poor access to vocational education.
Milburn said the issue should not be treated as a blame game about immigration, arguing that there was no evidence that migration levels had caused the increase. He said falling migration could instead create an opportunity for employers and Government to focus more seriously on helping young people into work, but warned that employers would need more support if they were to hire and train people with little work experience.
Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said the findings underlined the scale of the challenge facing ministers. The report adds pressure on the Government to bring together welfare, skills, health and local labour market policy, particularly as the Treasury seeks ways to reduce long-term benefit spending without relying solely on cuts to eligibility.