Youth Unemployment

John Glen Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

I thank my hon. Friend for the enormous amount of work that he put into organising the successful Blackpool jobs fair, which I attended a few weeks ago. He is right that the evidence from that jobs fair is that the vacancies are there, with more than 1,000 jobs allocated on the day of the jobs fair itself. Hospitality is a great entry route for young people. We have announced a foundation apprenticeship in hospitality as part of this process, and I hope that extends opportunity to other young people, similar to the opportunities that he had when he was a young man.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I share the concern of many on the Opposition Benches about the national insurance increase, but I am particularly concerned by what is happening with graduate unemployment, which we have seen increase by 46% over the past six years. I draw the Secretary of State’s attention to the work of upReach, a charity that I have been involved in over the past few years. It is a social mobility charity that offers workshops, work experience and career coaching to young people. Will he engage with organisations such as upReach and Nick Bent, the excellent CEO who runs it, to see what lessons can be learned? In a world where AI is already taking many graduate jobs, it is concerning that the trend will only accelerate further.