House of Commons
12 October 2026
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House of Commons
Follow its sittings00:17 - 00:45
Speaker 13
Order, order. Will the Member wishing to take their seat please come to the table.
00:45 - 02:06
Speaker 5
I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors according to the law, so help me God.
02:06 - 02:11
Speaker 2
Right, we now come to questions to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Andrew Pakes.
02:11 - 02:12
Number one, Mr. Speaker.
02:12 - 02:13
Secretary of State.
02:13 - 03:23
Speaker 3
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been some time since we had one of these sessions and there have been some political developments. We have a new Prime Minister in place. The Shadow Secretary of State has survived a reshuffle. I know what that feels like, so I welcome her back to her place.
And of course, we've just welcomed the new MP for Holborn and St Pancras. I should say if her opponent needs any help with employment security, we have a number of work experience and training programs that I'm happy to make available to him if he ever needs it. Now, turning to the question, youth trailblazers are a flexible, locally delivered way to help more young people into work. The early evidence is encouraging, showing more participation and getting young people work-ready. There'll be a full evaluation next year.
And I should also say that delivering employment support more locally through mayors and local authorities is the direction of travel, and we will do more of this in the future.
03:23 - 04:06
Speaker 1
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Too many young people in Peterborough are starting off adult life without the skills, support, or training to get on. So I'm incredibly proud that Peterborough was chosen as one of the first pilots for the Youth Guarantee trailblazer. But we don't just have high levels of NEETs. According to our Chambers of Commerce yet again, we have a high level of businesses unable to recruit the staff they need because of skills shortages.
This highlights one of the big mismatches between young people who don't have the skills and between employers who can't find the people they can train and give support for those skills. So can my right honourable friend tell me what more DWP and his department can do to ensure young people and businesses can find each other when it comes to investing in apprenticeships?