Place-based Employment Support Programmes

Sureena Brackenridge Excerpts

Tuesday 10th February 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley) for securing this important debate on place-based employment schemes. Local jobs, local skills and local employment support, rooted in communities, will change individuals’ lives as well as boosting local economies. My residents in Wolverhampton North East will understand that deeply.

In previous debates on young people not in education, employment or training, I have said that the challenge cannot be solved by a single national programme or by one-size-fits-all policies from Whitehall. Instead, we need local solutions, rooted in local labour markets and built around developing and building people, skills and aspirations. That is the approach that I am calling for and I welcome the Labour Government to continue to work closely with our Mayor, Richard Parker, and also with local councils. In Wolverhampton, through the Wolves at Work employment hub at the i10, residents are not handed generic advice; instead, time is invested in individuals to support them as needed. More than 1,800 residents have had employment advice and successful job matching, with more than 40% of those supported aged under 25. That is place-based employment support that is rooted in local partnerships and focused on real outcomes.

The open door programme does literally that. It opens up opportunities by giving paid work experience to those who might otherwise never get that first chance. Labour’s support for sector-based work academy programmes, a practical route into work, and for the youth guarantee trailblazer, part of the Get Britain Working plan, shows how this Government are focused on tailored, targeted support that will meet local needs. The major funding package for youth employment, benefiting about a million young people, is a sign of Labour’s commitment to tackling the long-term issue of young people not in education, employment or training.

Behind every statistic on NEETs is a young person who needs a guided pathway, with support for their specific needs. In Wolverhampton, we know that 2.6% of young people aged 16 to 17 were NEET in 2025. Although I appreciate that is lower than the national average, it is still hundreds of young people who deserve the opportunity to see themselves in a good quality job and a career suited to them.

For too long under previous Governments, employment support, skills funding and local growth strategies have operated in silos and we have seen inconsistencies, but this Labour Government are doing things differently. We are aligning skills with jobs, investing in local employment hubs for the long term, and backing councils and mayoral combined authorities to shape programmes that work for their places.

How will the Minister address the challenge of scaling up that success, so that where someone grows up no longer determines whether they can get on in life? I call on the Minister to fully back place-based employment schemes to connect people to jobs for hope, ambition and action.