Backbench Business Committee
7 July 2026
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Backbench Business Committee House of Commons
00:03 - 00:34
Speaker 2
Order, order. Welcome to the meeting of the Backbench Business Committee, when we'll be considering applications from colleagues for debates in the main chamber and also in Westminster Hall on a Tuesday or a Thursday. First up is a request for a debate from Andrew Ranger on the findings of the Milburn review into work and young people. And this is an application for a chamber or Westminster Hall debate for either three hours or 90 minutes. Please, Andrew, present your case.
00:34 - 02:47
Speaker 3
Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you to members of the committee. As many of us will have heard, the findings of the interim Milburn report into young people and work point to a limelight what I believe is a national scandal. And it shows a long-term neglect of over a million young people classed as NEET. The review has showcased structural failures that span across a huge portion of government departments and institutions. And over many years, we've seen the erosion of institutions such as youth clubs, social programs which provide cultural interaction, crucial, sorry, interactions, the gaining of social skills, a labour market that is becoming increasingly automated and psychologically challenging, an education system prioritising exams over employability, and a welfare system that fails to provide the necessary route into work.
Although we have had an urgent question on the report in the chamber, I believe that, you know, that is obviously quite a short period of time there, and I believe that this is such a crucial issue that we really need more in-depth parliamentary time to discuss and debate these initial findings. As I said, what we've got is a systemic failure, and the consequences are clear. You know, only one in five NEET young people get meaningful employment support. 67% of them believe the curriculum has failed them to prepare for work. And there's a hidden cohort of what we think are around 300,000 NEET young people who are not claiming benefits, not in the system anyway, and effectively invisible.
So actually, the problem could be bigger than what we think. And despite any measures that may come forward in the full report in the autumn that Alan Milburn will present, you know, the figures are actually still projected to increase. So this really is a crucial national issue. And I strongly, therefore, believe we need to have that debate, a cross-party debate, because the solutions we need to explore, the best practice, and how we tackle this really needs to be done on a cross-party basis. I think we need to hear from everyone in this, and this is why the debate is needed so we can actually solve this for the long term.
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