Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they will provide for 16 to 18 year olds who are not in higher education or apprenticeships to ensure they have an effective and successful transition from school into the workplace.

Lord Nash

Support is available for all 16 to 18-year olds whether they are making a transition into employment, ongoing education, or a combination. Local authorities are required to track and support young people, and in doing so they work closely with education and training providers, employers, the Voluntary and Community Sector, and other agencies.

Schools and colleges have a duty to secure independent careers guidance to young people. The Careers & Enterprise Company has been established to help ensure young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life.

Specialist support is provided to vulnerable young people such as Care Leavers and those who are under the supervision of a Youth Offending Team, and any 16 to 18-year olds who claim benefits are supported into employment or education by staff at Job Centre Plus offices. The government has also allocated £30m for the Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund Social Impact Bond (SIB) schemes which provide support to vulnerable young people.

We are looking to improve the quality of the destinations data by linking it to employment and benefits data. This data will enable us to improve the robustness and coverage of NEET destination data and monitor the impact of our policies.