Oral Answers to Questions

Rebecca Smith Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)]

When the Secretary of State and I last met like this, he lauded the roll-out of youth hubs and the introduction of the youth guarantee as the solution to tackling the scale of young people not in education, employment or training. Since then, however, apprenticeship figures have been updated. The latest figures show that apprenticeship vacancies and adverts have significantly decreased since the Labour Government took office. If we compare the latest figures from this academic year with the same period in 2024-25, apprenticeship adverts have fallen by 27% and the number of vacancies has fallen by 22%. How can the Secretary of State make the promise of a youth guarantee with this alarming reduction in the number of available apprenticeships?

[Pat McFadden]

Precisely because we are tilting the funding more towards youth apprenticeship starts, we will arrest the decline that happened when the hon. Lady’s party were in power. Change needs to come to the system if we want to do that, and I believe it is the right choice. The effect on young people who come off education and go on to benefits can be lifelong, so it is right that we prioritise them in the system.