Welfare Reforms and Youth Unemployment

Baroness Nargund Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Evans, for securing this very important debate. I also thank our Government for commissioning the Milburn report. I declare my interest as a former trustee and vice-chair of the British Red Cross.

We face a profound challenge. NEET is not simply a jobs crisis; it is in fact a health crisis with a job problem. Some 44 % of NEET young people report a work-limiting health condition, 24% cite depression and anxiety, and 70% report loneliness.

The review shows these problems often begin long before young people become NEET. Reduced socialisation, weaker support networks and the pandemic have left many young people less confident, less connected and more isolated. We have not got a jobs gap: in my view, we have a jobs readiness gap. Over half of 18 to 24 year-olds say they do not feel prepared when leaving education, despite 84% of NEET young people saying they want a job, education or training.

We need to bridge the gap between education and employment. That is why volunteering matters. Throughout my years in the voluntary sector, which has been decades, including at the British Red Cross, I have seen first-hand how volunteering transforms lives. I know it from my own personal experience: I have been a volunteer and I have spoken to thousands of volunteers across our country. The evidence is compelling. Research shows that one-third of volunteers aged 16 to 19 said volunteering helped them secure their first job. Some 84% of young volunteers report gaining skills and confidence, while 77% say it reduces their feelings of isolation and loneliness.

This matters because poor mental health and unemployment reinforce one another. Volunteering tackles both. It helps young people develop the skills and qualities employers value: reliability, responsibility, communication, resilience and problem-solving. It also provides structure, experience and purpose. Yet, too few young people volunteer. Schools and universities should work with the local voluntary sector so that volunteering becomes part of their education. Jobcentres should actively promote volunteering pathways, backed by the Government’s right to try guarantee, so participation does not risk benefit reassessment.

Without these actions, one in six young people could be NEET by 2030. That is something we cannot afford, economically or socially. As such, I welcome our Government’s youth jobs grant and other initiatives when it comes to hiring apprentices, several of which the DWP has come up with. In fact, it proactively came up with these policies before the Milburn report was published, in order to support NEET young people. If we are serious about tackling youth economic inactivity in our country and getting young people back into work, we must stop seeing volunteering as an optional extra but as a practical, proven tool for tackling youth inactivity, and start recognising it as a vital pathway into work.

For many young people, volunteering is not simply something good to do; it is the bridge to a better future. I ask my noble friend the Minister whether volunteering could be placed at the heart of the strategy for supporting young people into employment and opportunities. I look forward to the Minister’s reply.

Health-related Benefits Assessments

Baroness Nargund Excerpts

Monday 8th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

These were long-term contracts and were signed only in late 2023 and took effect shortly after, but we are not simply taking that as meaning that we cannot do anything. We are in close negotiations with all the contractors to look at how we can drive up the proportion of face-to-face assessments. It will take time because, having started with so many being home-based, we have to make sure we can get the numbers back up in time. There are limited numbers and assessors have to be either a registered doctor, a nurse, an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist; they have to be trained in disability assessment medicine; and they have to engage in continuous professional development. We need to make sure they are properly qualified to make those assessments, but we are working to get the numbers up as fast as we can.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for reassuring us that face-to-face appointments will be increased with trained professionals. I welcome the DWP initiative to reform the fit note system. There are millions of women who are absent from work due to women’s health problems and nearly 60,000 women are leaving work every year due to menopausal symptoms. What conversations has my noble friend the Minister had to ensure workplace adjustments will be made to get these women back to work or into new employment?