YouSaid · the spoken record
Pat McFadden
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On the record 2005–2026
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“I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. Skills England plays an important role in accrediting approved apprenticeships, looking at demand and quality, and I am sure it has heard the representations she has made. The overall direction of travel that we have given to Skills England is intended to ensure that we have more youth apprenticeship starts in future, because that is where the need is greatest and where the public expect us to be investing the growth and skills levy to create the most opportunity that can change the most lives.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. As I said to the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) a moment ago, Skills England will always look at the range of courses available and will always consider accreditation. I am sure it will have heard the representations that she has made.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The right hon. Gentleman is right to emphasise the importance of jobs. That is why he will be pleased to know that there are 243,000 more people in work than at this time last year. He will also be pleased to know that the employment rate in the UK is higher today than in all but one of the 14 years when his party was in power. He will be pleased a third time to know that economic inactivity is down by 367,000 since the last election.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We made a major change on this front last year, when we abolished the two-child limit. That, together with other elements in the child poverty strategy, is estimated to bring down child poverty by about half a million over the course of this Parliament. That is an important step towards children being able to live the fullest life possible. Children who are poor can also suffer from worse education results and worse mental health later in life, so this is not just an anti-poverty measure; it is a pro-opportunity measure too.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I remind the hon. Lady that, under her Government, the number of young people not in employment, education or training went up by a quarter of a million in the two years before the last election. As I said to the right hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard), there are now 243,000 more people in work than at this time last year. The employment rate in the UK today is higher than in every year but one of the Conservatives’ 14 years in power. The UK had the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. I will tell the hon. Lady what could threaten that: a bunch of unfunded tax cuts from the Opposition. We know where that ends up—we saw the movie a few years ago—so I advise her not to repeat it.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member is right to say that the devolution map in England is uneven. I urge him to wait for the White Paper later this year, when we will have more to say about that. However, we believe that locally delivered services in employment support can break down the departmental barriers that have too often dogged getting the right help to people at the right time. People are human beings, not departmental clients, and it is time we treated them as such. Delivering more services locally can help us do that.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Alan Milburn delivered his interim report a few months ago and will deliver his final report in a few weeks’ time. I thank Alan Milburn for his tremendous work highlighting the issue of youth inactivity. I look forward to his final report.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will add the summit to the list of places to go. I would dearly love to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency, and if I cannot, I will ensure that one of my colleagues does. On the point of substance that he raises, the problem of youth inactivity in the country has built up over many years, and not enough has been done about it in the past. We now have the youth guarantee, which is investing in the issue. We know that there is more that we must do, which is why we are looking forward to the final report from Alan Milburn in a few weeks’ time.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The truth is that it has been a problem for a long time. I repeat what I said to the shadow Secretary of State: under the Government that the hon. Lady supported, the number of NEETs went up by a quarter of a million between 2021 and 2024. She asks me what we will do, and in addition to the programmes I have announced, we recently announced a partnership with the British Retail Consortium to hire 100,000 young people not in education, employment or training over the next few years. The hon. Lady will be pleased to know that the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation survey showed the strongest hiring sentiment in four years.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Chancellor’s speech at our party conference a couple of weeks ago, in which he was quite clear that we owe young people not just an income, but a future too. That is why the Government are behind the agenda I am setting out. I look forward to reading Alan Milburn’s final report in a few weeks’ time, and I remind the shadow Minister and everyone on the Opposition Benches that Alan Milburn was clear in his interim report that the problems we are talking about are deep-seated, long-term and have existed in this country for a great many years.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Since our last oral questions session, we have announced an agreement with the British Retail Consortium to hire 100,000 young people not in education, employment or training over the next few years; we have announced an extension of disability bus pass usage to cover peak hours; we have rolled out more of the youth guarantee; and, as has been referred to, we have announced our intention to adjust the triple lock, ensuring rising and sustainable pensions for the future and also releasing funds for a new national care service, which is a matter of huge importance to pensioners and their families.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am glad that the hon. Member has given me the opportunity to point out what we inherited—exactly what was set out in The Times this morning—which was a backlog of 2 million people awaiting reassessment. As he knows, the Tories left a system with almost no face-to-face assessments. Since then, we announced at the Budget last year a plan to tackle the backlog in work capability assessments and reassessments. The Office for Budget Responsibility has costed that activity at saving over—”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The welfare budget rose twice as fast during the hon. Lady’s party’s last Parliament in power as it is during this Parliament. We are reforming the system through changes to universal credit, more personalised employment support and the youth guarantee that we have referred to a number of times during this session.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I remind the hon. Lady that the system she criticises is the one designed, created and legislated for by her Government and her party. We are changing the system through the changes in universal credit announced in April this year, through more personalised support for the people with long-term health conditions who were signed off and written off by her party, and through more intervention on youth opportunity for the young people who were neglected while the NEET numbers went through the roof on their watch.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend; I enjoyed the visit to his constituency a few weeks ago to support young disabled people. He is right in what he says about long-term youth unemployment. That is why we have the jobs guarantee, and we will publish a full evaluation of its effects.”
House of Commons12 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Their whole future is in front of them, which is why it is right that we help them.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“More than 1 million young people are currently not in education, employment or training. Youth employment in the UK has not reached its pre-financial crash level in any year since, and there has been a sharp rise in recent years in the number of young people not in education, employment or training. That is why we are investing an additional £2.5 billion over the next three years into the youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member raises an important issue. Whenever I discuss youth unemployment and opportunity with MPs, they often identify transport links as a barrier. We are capping single bus fares at £3 on thousands of routes in England outside London until March 2027, but I believe that there is more that we can and should do, because he is right that connectivity is really important and is linked to opportunity.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend not only for her question but for the wonderful work she has done and the advice she has given me on closing the disability employment gap and championing the rights of partially sighted people. She asks about access, which is important. Alongside our jobcentre network, we have mobile jobcentre vans, and over the next few years we will be opening 360 youth hubs to get services to where young people are in the local community.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have the second-fastest growing economy in the G7, we have 400,000 more people in work than we did last year and the number of young people in employment is up by 74,000 since the election. In the whole 14 years in which the hon. Member’s party was in power, it went up by only 1,000.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I appreciate that the DWP plays a role as a local employer, but it is important that we deliver our service as efficiently as possible on behalf of the taxpayer and that we get the maximum value for money for that. With regard to the hon. Member’s request, there has been an offer of a meeting with a Minister from the Department; I hope that he will take that up.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are making strong progress on expanding youth hubs, with around 130 already in operation across Great Britain. In March, I announced the locations that we want to open in this year, and I have just announced a further 180 locations for the following two years. The areas involved, including Harlow, Cardiff, Dartford and east Hertfordshire, will see new youth hubs opening in local sports clubs, libraries and other venues. Wherever MPs get a youth hub, I encourage them to work with their jobcentres and with local organisations to confirm venues and begin delivery of these important services.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is right, and I thank Cardiff football club for being a partner. We are supporting nearly 1 million young people and creating up to half a million opportunities for jobs and training. We are doing that by providing incentives for employers to hire, promoting apprenticeships and delivering a whole range of targeted programmes. Another important point about youth hubs is that they are not just available to people already signing on and on benefits; a significant proportion of young people not in education, employment or training are not claiming benefits, and the youth hubs are open to all of them, too.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend is a great champion of Harlow and the people of Harlow, and I believe he will make maximum use of the youth hub to advance opportunities for young people in his constituency. We are committed to giving the young people of Harlow the best possible chance in life. I recently visited the Netherlands, which has a youth inactivity rate significantly lower than ours, and youth hubs are an important part of its effort.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend raises an important point. As I said, we recognise that transport can be a real barrier for young people in rural areas, so we have designed youth hubs to be flexible and to work with local partners on tailoring delivery for what works best in each area. That can include offering more flexible opening hours or choosing locations that align with local transport patterns. The whole idea is to meet people where they are in the community and make services as easy as possible for them to use.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Dartford youth hub is scheduled to open in the next financial year, and it will bring together a range of support. Youth hubs include mental health support, housing support, and skills and career opportunities all in one place. The whole idea is that people do not lives their lives according to departmental boundaries, and the way that we help them should understand that and bring these departmental boundaries together. Our evaluation shows that young people at youth hubs are more likely to progress towards employment, and two thirds report that the support met their specific needs.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As Alan Milburn pointed out in his recent report, the UK’s NEET crisis is much more long-term and deep-seated than any decisions taken in the last few years. There are 400,000 more people in work than last year. The number of young people in employment is up by 74,000 since the election. It only went up by 1,000 during the Conservative party’s 14 years in power. From tomorrow, we will open a process of hiring incentives of £3,000 for any business that wants to take on a young person who has been out of work for six months or more. Shame is not the emotion I feel; it is passion for opening up work and opportunity to more young people, and that is what we are doing.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Congratulations to Fatima Whitbread—a great British and Olympic hero. The right hon. Member is right about the importance of opportunity for care leavers from wraparound care—we are keen to do that. We want not just to help young people into work, but to help them after they have found work. We will certainly try to ensure that a member of the ministerial team calls into the event that he mentioned.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am happy to congratulate Young Somerset on supported internships. I am sure the hon. Member will get a meeting with somebody in the ministerial team. As for his call for more funding, that has to sit alongside the many calls we have for more funding in this House every day.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I believe that these youth hubs are applicable to every part of the United Kingdom. Well done to the organisation in Glengormley that the hon. Member mentioned. Of course, the Northern Ireland Executive has its own funding, too, and many matters are devolved. But wherever young people are in the United Kingdom, I want them to know that this is a Government that wants to see more opportunity and more work for them and a helping hand to get them on that first vital step on the career ladder, which is often a good first job.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As I said, earlier this spring we announced the expansion of youth hubs to all planned areas and the launch of phase one of the jobs guarantee for the long-term unemployed, first in six areas and later to the whole country. From today, we are rolling out expanded employment support for young people on universal credit to all jobcentres in Britain. As I mentioned, from tomorrow, we are opening the youth jobs grant, which will give employers a £3,000 hiring bonus to take on a young person who has been out of work for six months or more.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for his commitment to expanding opportunity for young people in his constituency and to reducing the NEET youth rate. As he knows, I was pleased to open the Peterborough youth hub some months ago, and my Department is working with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough strategic authority on the youth guarantee trailblazer. I congratulate Inspire2Ignite. I value positive feedback from the Minister’s visit to the BRDG site, and I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with a Minister to discuss these issues further.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman and send him commiserations for whatever has left him reliant on his crutches today. I am happy to congratulate the businesses he mentioned in his constituency. He raises a serious point: it is important not only to come up with the right policy, but to make it simple for businesses to use. That is something I have stressed to my officials; it is important that this scheme is simple to apply for. The money will be given in two instalments—one in the second month, and one in the fifth month—to ensure that hiring is sustained, but I entirely agree that good policy should be matched by a simple application process.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In his review Alan Milburn considered that issue and said that, “the UK’s NEET crisis is much more long-term and deep-seated than any decisions taken in the last few years.” As I said earlier, 400,000 more people are in work this year than last year, and the number of young people in employment is up since the election. Our policies are designed to help business rally to the cause of getting more young people into work, and I am pleased that we are introducing hiring incentives of £3,000 to help businesses take on a young unemployed person who has been out of work for six months or more. There is a good reason to target that group with opportunity, because the longer people are on those benefits, the greater the consequences that can have for their lives in the long term.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Since our last DWP questions, both Alan Milburn and the Pensions Commission have published their respective interim reports on young people and on the current state of saving for retirement. I look forward to receiving their final reports later in the year. Earlier this month, I visited the Netherlands to see the impressive work of the Dutch Government to ensure that youth inactivity is a last resort, and I think there is much that we can learn. Finally, I put on record my thanks and best wishes to Sir Peter Schofield, the outgoing permanent secretary of the Department. He leaves after more than eight years at the helm of the DWP. I look forward to working with his successor, Dame Sarah Healey, who will be joining us as the new permanent secretary shortly.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is important to treat customers properly and fairly and to remember that the DWP deals with some of the most vulnerable people in society. The Department takes safeguarding seriously. We have increased training, particularly for those involved in health assessments. If there are specific cases that my hon. Friend wishes to draw to my attention, I encourage him to provide me with the details.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I enjoy our exchanges, and I welcome the opportunity that the shadow Secretary of State has given me to point out that in the past year I have said time and again that we have to change the question that the system asks from “What benefits are you entitled to?” to “How do we help you change your life?” The debate on how we reform the system has changed to one in which we are putting opportunity and work at the centre of what we do. That is what we are doing with the youth guarantee, and that is what we will continue to do.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Of course, people should only receive benefits if they are properly entitled to and qualified for them. All this has to be underpinned by our being as caring and as passionate about wealth creation as we are about fair wealth distribution. That is what unites Labour people. We are asking the right questions, while the hon. Lady is still asking the wrong ones.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend has raised an important point. This has to be a joint effort between the Government and employers. We had a great roundtable at No. 10 this morning with employers who are committed to expanding youth opportunity, and I have visited Merlin, an important leisure and hospitality business, which has agreed to take on 300 young people through our youth guarantee measures. Other businesses are signing up as well, and I encourage as many as possible to do so.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The youth hub will be able to help young people by treating them as human beings and bringing together holistic support to get them into employment, including in mental health, housing, and essential and vocational skills. As I said, it is about breaking down the barriers between Departments and seeing youngsters as people. So far, 67% of young people using youth hubs report that the support has met their needs.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend raises a really important point. We cannot allow young people to drop out and to drop out of sight of the system. It is really important, especially for 16 and 17-year-olds, because we want to see participation in education or training up until the age of 18. On my visit to the Netherlands, I saw how it takes this really seriously, with effort after effort to stop young people dropping out. I think we can learn from that and about tracking young people more closely.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When the history books are written about this, they will show that this number rose by a quarter of a million in the last three years during which the hon. Member’s party was in power, and the Conservatives did precisely nothing about it. That is what the history books will show. We are responding with a youth guarantee that puts work and opportunity at the heart of welfare reform. I wish they had done it—they did not—but we are.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend raises a really important point. There should not be an automatic transition. We also have to consider the life chances of people on long-term sickness benefits. So this is worth considering, while always making sure that people in need of disability benefits get the help and support they need to lead as full a life as possible.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have discussed this with my hon. Friend. There are great schools I have visited that have a record of NEET zero. They do that by paying attention to employability and work right from year 7, so I believe there is more that can be done to reduce the figure and put work and opportunity at the heart of the reform of the system that we are bringing forward.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If the right hon. Gentleman has just noticed that there are 1 million young people not in education, employment or training, one has to ask what was he doing when he was a Minister in the last Government when the figures went up by a quarter of a million and he said nothing at all about it? We have brought forward a youth guarantee that will put work and opportunity at the heart of the reform of the system. That is in stark contrast to his record of complete inaction on this issue when he was in a position to do something about it.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome my hon. Friend’s question. The report published today is really important, and it shows the lack of opportunity for white working-class children at schools. Our agenda of maximum opportunity for young people and of not letting people drop out and be left behind is really important in getting more opportunity for this group of young people.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I encourage local businesses in the hon. Lady’s constituency to look at the new incentives available from tomorrow. They can access a hiring incentive of £3,000 to help them with the cost of taking on a young person, provided that person has been out of work for six months or more. We want to do that in partnership with business. It is an important policy and I look forward to her being a champion of it in her constituency.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree with my hon. Friend that we need to work with businesses. I want this to be seen as a national cause, a national endeavour, and a good partnership between business and Government, because it is in the whole country’s interests to make maximum use of the very best resource we have, which is the talents of the British people themselves.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Member raises an important question, which young people themselves are alive to. AI is an all-purpose technology; it will both destroy and create jobs. The leadership task is to ensure that this country is best placed to use the technology and is a good home for investment in it, as well as ensuring that AI adds to the skills of our people.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate my hon. Friend on being a fantastic champion for Stafford and her constituents. The youth guarantee will help young people in her constituency through hiring incentives, apprenticeship changes and more work experience placements. I know that she will work with me and the rest of Government to be a champion of opportunities for the young people of Stafford.”
House of Commons29 June 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗