V-levels

Lord Redwood Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

My noble friend is right that work experience often plays an important role in enabling young people to experience work and to reduce the risk of them becoming NEET, as does having the right routes for further study at level 3, which is part of what the V-level reforms are about. As well as this Government’s commitment to two weeks of work experience for students throughout their school career, we already have very effective industrial placements in T-levels, of course, and we will use the additional funding for the youth guarantee to provide the opportunity for young people who are out of work to experience work experience as part of the youth guarantee gateway.

[Lord Redwood (Con)]

For V-levels to succeed, they need to be linked with a good opportunity to get a well-paid job. So what measures will the Government take urgently to tackle the unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment brought about by high taxes and anti-business culture, when, for these V-levels to succeed, we need a welcoming approach by business to youth employment?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Lord is of course right that we need good jobs for young people. We also need investment in their education and training, which this Government are putting in place. The £1.5 billion that the Chancellor made available to support the youth guarantee and apprenticeships for young people will help to ensure more opportunities for apprenticeships, more opportunities to get young people who are currently out of work into work, and a backstop job guarantee for those young people.