Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 15
3rd Report - Youth employment, education and training
Published 22 Jul 2026
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Youth employment, education and training All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
There is a seed of a good policy in the Youth Guarantee. We welcome many of the policies announced under the umbrella of the Youth Guarantee, including the localised funding of the Trailblazers and the expansion of the youth hubs. However, the government must go further to make a success of it. Other countries have shown that Youth Guarantees require a long-term commitment and to be part of wider support systems. In particular, they have shown the value of intervening as early as possible to support young people at risk of becoming NEET, and of long-term policy commitments. This requires a framework for the early identification of those at risk. The UK has a long history of short-term youth programmes, which can discourage young people, employers and other stakeholders from getting involved. It must do better this time. (Conclusion, Paragraph 81) 45 Apprenticeships
From: Work and Pensions Committee, 3rd Report - Youth employment, education and training (HC 180), 22 July 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 15 October 2026 (deadline 22 September 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts two of the Committee's recommendations on the Youth Guarantee and apprenticeship awareness, partially accepts others, does not accept the National Insurance proposal, and defers several matters until the final Milburn report is published.
- On extending the National Insurance Upper Secondary Threshold to all under-25s, the government says "Do not accept", citing the need to restore the public finances and existing employer National Insurance reliefs for young people.
- On a youth employment strategy, the response says "Revisit when Milburn is published" and commits to publish "a full response to Alan Milburn's review in due course".
- On a 10-year minimum funding level, it says "Revisit once Milburn is published", stating that committing to long-term spending for a specific issue outside the Spending Review cycle "would reduce the credibility of any spending plans".
- On a Jobs Guarantee cost benefit analysis, it partially accepts: one will be included in the wider evaluation, but it is "not committing at this stage" to analysis of different periods of unemployment before referral.