Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report Debate
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Adam Dance
Main Page: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)Department Debates - View all Adam Dance's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report
Adam Dance Excerpts(1 day, 23 hours ago)
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Adam Dance (Yeovil) (LD)
When the Government commission a review, people often just roll their eyes, because we all know there is no better way to kick an issue down the road than with an independent review. Few issues have been kicked down the road as much as doing something about the one in eight young people not in employment, education or training. Given what has been published so far and the conversations that I have had, I am genuinely hopeful that the Milburn review will give us a real shot at change.
I would talk all day about this, but given the time, obviously I cannot. However, I would like to focus on two special areas of the report: rurality and special educational needs and disabilities.
The review has highlighted what is obvious to everyone from south Somerset: transport is a huge barrier to work and further education. Nothing else that a young person or the system does matters. The review highlights that bus journeys in rural England have declined sharply. We have seen this with the No. 11 and No. 54 bus routes in Yeovil. Even if there is a bus, some young people still face three to four-hour delays. We urgently need action to improve rural transport networks and access to affordable driving lessons and tests. The £2 bus fare cap is a good start, but we need a new bus fleet in Somerset and to start looking at more innovative ideas, such as smarter booking for our most isolated communities.
Equally, the Milburn report paints a clear picture of the challenges faced by young people with SEND, who are 80% more likely to be NEET. I have been saying for ages that the lack of early intervention is largely the driver of this problem. That is backed by the report, which highlights that children who fall behind at five years old are, on average, still behind at age 16. I was incredibly happy to hear from academics that the Universal Classroom Project got the increased Government funding that we had been calling for to develop a free profile-building screener for key learning strengths and weaknesses.
I understand that in the final recommendations, Alan Milburn will look to present solutions radical enough to address the scale of the crisis. I can only hope that the Government do something about this.