Written questions by Garnier.

With reference to the National Inquiry, how she will ensure the survivors of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse are supported throughout the process.

We remain committed to delivering an inquiry that earns trust and delivers truth. Following the appointment of the Chair and the establishment of the Inquiry, the Chair will consult on the Terms of Reference with victims and survivors and other key stakeholders before agreeing a final version with the Home Secretary. The inquiry will then begin considering evidence and data to select the first local areas for investigations.We are moving at pace, but we will not compromise rigour for speed. This is a complex and sensitive process, and we are not setting arbitrary deadlines – we are focused on getting it right. We will provide public updates when it is appropriate to do so.The inquiry is expected to operate over a two to three-year period which will maximise the number of areas it can examine, while remaining time-limited so that victims and survivors receive answers swiftly.The Government recognises the devastating impacts that child sexual exploitation and abuse can have on victims and survivors and is committed to ensuring that all victims and survivors receive better care and support.As set out in the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update in April, we are working across government to develop ambitious proposals to improve therapeutic support services for victims of child sexual abuse. Government committed in that update to double funding and invest an additional £1.6 million for adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Home Office continues to fund voluntary organisations providing nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, investing £2.59 million this year to seven organisations through the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) fund.We also recognise the importance of ensuring that all staff supporting victims have sufficient guidance on child sexual abuse to deliver effective trauma informed support. The Government is providing funding to the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to strengthen professional responses to child sexual abuse through evidence-based training and resources.

When the National Inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse will (a) conclude and (b) publish its findings.

We remain committed to delivering an inquiry that earns trust and delivers truth. Following the appointment of the Chair and the establishment of the Inquiry, the Chair will consult on the Terms of Reference with victims and survivors and other key stakeholders before agreeing a final version with the Home Secretary. The inquiry will then begin considering evidence and data to select the first local areas for investigations.We are moving at pace, but we will not compromise rigour for speed. This is a complex and sensitive process, and we are not setting arbitrary deadlines – we are focused on getting it right. We will provide public updates when it is appropriate to do so.The inquiry is expected to operate over a two to three-year period which will maximise the number of areas it can examine, while remaining time-limited so that victims and survivors receive answers swiftly.The Government recognises the devastating impacts that child sexual exploitation and abuse can have on victims and survivors and is committed to ensuring that all victims and survivors receive better care and support.As set out in the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update in April, we are working across government to develop ambitious proposals to improve therapeutic support services for victims of child sexual abuse. Government committed in that update to double funding and invest an additional £1.6 million for adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. The Home Office continues to fund voluntary organisations providing nationally accessible services to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, investing £2.59 million this year to seven organisations through the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (SVSCSA) fund.We also recognise the importance of ensuring that all staff supporting victims have sufficient guidance on child sexual abuse to deliver effective trauma informed support. The Government is providing funding to the independent Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to strengthen professional responses to child sexual abuse through evidence-based training and resources.

What estimate she has made of the number of customers accessing pensions prior to the Autumn Budget 2025; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of media coverage of the Budget on pension adequacy throughout retirement.

The Government does not comment on media speculation ahead of Budgets nor collect real-time data on the number of individuals accessing their pensions. Taking unplanned steps in respect of an individual’s pension may not be in their long-term financial interest. Individuals should get suitable professional advice, including from a regulated financial adviser.

Whether it is her policy to protect accrued pension rights when changing the tax treatment of pensions.

The Government does not comment on media speculation ahead of Budgets nor collect real-time data on the number of individuals accessing their pensions. Taking unplanned steps in respect of an individual’s pension may not be in their long-term financial interest. Individuals should get suitable professional advice, including from a regulated financial adviser.

What steps her Department is taking to help further education colleges support young people who are not in education, employment or training through (a) flexible funding arrangements and (b) supporting collaborative working with local authorities.

Through the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department is committed to enabling local and strategic authorities, schools, and further education (FE) providers to more effectively identify, track and share data about young people. These measures aim to prevent young people falling out of education/training and becoming not in education, employment, or training, and look to ensure that those without a post-16 study plan are automatically allocated a place at a local college or FE provider.We will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-2029. This investment will enable us to support 1.3 million learners each year. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16-19 providers to maintain real terms per-student funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds. This will enable the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.

What data his Department uses, other than the Labour Market Force survey, to estimate the population of people who are not in education, employment or training.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uses multiple data sources to inform our view of how young people are performing in the labour market and whether young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). These include statistics based on survey and administrative data sources. The quarterly estimates for young people (aged 16-to-24 years) who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK can be found here: Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) - Office for National Statistics. This is an official statistic in development, which is used to inform our view of NEETs in the UK. The Department for Education produces estimates of young people (aged 16 to 24 years old) who are NEET for England, which can be found here: NEET age 16 to 24, Calendar year 2024 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. This is an official statistic in development which is used to inform our view of NEETs in England. Currently, there is no Official Statistical release that shows the trends in 16–24-year-olds NEETs at the local level. The Department for Education does produce a yearly release for those aged 16-17 at local authority level for England. This can be found here: Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority, Academic year 2024/25 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. This uses the National Client Caseload information system to estimate the number of 16–17-year-olds in England who are not in education, employment or training. The ONS publish the educational status and labour market status for people aged from 16-24. This can be found here: A06 SA: Educational status and labour market status for people aged from 16 to 24 (seasonally adjusted) - Office for National Statistics. This is an official statistic in development, derived from the LFS and published monthly. The Annual Population Survey (APS) is used to see youth labour market trends at various geographical levels. This can be access from here: Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. The APS has a larger sample size than the LFS but is less timely. We also use the monthly estimates of the ONS claimant count by age group. This can be found here: CLA02: Claimant Count by age group - Office for National Statistics. This administrative source shows us the number of young people who are currently in the intensive work search regime. This is for UC/JSA claimants who are unemployed or earning below the Administrative Earnings Threshold. Another administrative data source we use, is the ONS-HMRC Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (RTI). This can be found here: Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted - Office for National Statistics. This is a monthly released administrative source of information, which tells us how many young people are currently employed on company payrolls. We also use the departments own administrative data through the publicly available Stat Xplore. This can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. This service holds data relating to a range of different benefits/programmes for various age groups.

What steps his Department plans to take to distribute funding for people not in education, employment or training through the Youth Guarantee scheme in each region.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are developing a Youth Guarantee to ensure young people aged 18-21 can access high-quality training, apprenticeships, and personalised support to find work. As a first step, we are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers across England who are testing innovative approaches to identify and deliver localised support to young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes strengthening local coordination, through local leadership, and outreach to better connect young people with opportunities. In August 2025, we confirmed we are extending the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers for a further year, to continue supporting young people in 2026/27. The insights gained from the Trailblazers will inform the future design and delivery of the Youth Guarantee.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of students who are at risk of being withdrawn from their study programme for not attending their GCSE retake lessons.

I refer the hon. Member for Wyre Forest to the answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 83275.

How her Department uses data on people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to develop policy in the context of changes in the number of people who are NEET.

The department collects and uses a range of data and evidence relating to young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) to inform policy, including ‘Participation in education, training and employment’, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024.The department also uses NEET age 16 to 24 statistics, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.In developing policy, the department engages with a range of externally produced research and evidence, including through the Youth Futures Foundation – the What Works Centre for youth employment.The post-16 education and skills white paper set out our objectives for a skills and employment system with a clear focus on re-engaging those who are NEET. The white paper recognises evidence shows there are certain characteristics that can increase the risks of young people becoming NEET. These include young people with low prior attainment, from low socio-economic backgrounds or who have special educational needs or mental health problems. The white paper includes a range of measures which apply the use of data to respond to these challenges, such as improving early identification and tracking through better data sharing and artificial intelligence-driven risk indicators.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional intervention funding for the provision of education re-engagement programmes for 16 to 18 year olds who have defaulted their initial course but who could be re-engaged.

Under Section 68 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, local authorities are required to make available the support it considers appropriate to encourage, enable or assist all young people aged 16 to 19 to effectively participate in education or training.Local authorities must also collect information about young people to identify and give reengagement support to those who are not participating or are not in employment, education, or training. They are expected to meet any costs incurred in the delivery of the above from their overall budgets, including central government grants.Funding for education and training provision for 16 to 19-year-olds and those up to the age of 25 with an education, health and care plan is provided to schools, colleges and training providers.The funding formula for 16 to 19-year-olds includes extra funding for disadvantaged students to recognise that there are additional costs incurred in engaging, retaining and supporting young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and to account for the additional costs incurred for teaching and supporting students who have low prior attainment to achieve their learning goals.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of young people with education, health and care plans who are not in employment, education or training.

There are 165,000 16 to 25 year-olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Of these, it is estimated that approximately 22,000 are not in education, employment or training (NEET).Published data for the reporting year 2025 shows that approximately 11% of 16 to 19 year-olds with EHC plans and 21% of 20 to 25 year-olds with EHC plans were NEET. The data is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/da86f4d8-c536-4e7d-5ab8-08ddf5e2701a.The department is acting to tackle the number of young people who are NEET.The recently published post-16 education and skills white paper commits us to building a system that leaves no learner behind.We are tackling NEETs by ensuring that every young person has access to education, training or support to move into work, backed by measures such as automatic college places for 16 year-olds without a post-16 plan, subsidised paid work placements, and a guaranteed job for those on Universal Credit unemployed for over 18 months.The Youth Guarantee trailblazers are testing focused support for vulnerable groups such as care leavers, young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and those from alternative provision. This focused support includes mentoring, confidence building, coaching and financial management skills. This testing will inform the future roll out of the Youth Guarantee.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of mental health on trends in the number of people who are not in education, employment or training; and whether this is reflected in support pathways.

We know that quality employment, education, and training have a positive impact on mental health, and leads to greater independence and a feeling of fully participating in society. That is why, as set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, DWP and DfE are developing a Youth Guarantee, which will ensure that all 18–21-year-olds in England have access to education, training, or help to find a job or an apprenticeship. This will build on the wide range of support Department for Work and Pensions already offers to help young people and those with health conditions or disabilities to move into work. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and personalised support delivered by work coaches based in Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners. One such programme is Connect to Work, a voluntary, locally commissioned Supported Employment programme. It is open for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing non-health related barriers to work. Participants are given a dedicated specialist employment support adviser who helps them to identify their career goals and overcome any specific barriers to employment. The Government is also investing in mental health support services for young people. We are expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to ensure that every school and college has access to specialist mental health professionals, providing access to early support to address problems before they escalate. Additionally, we are also launching Young Futures Hubs, which will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of social factors on trends in the number of people who are not in education, employment or training.

DWP recognises that a range of social factors contribute to trends in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Research by the Youth Futures Foundation (published December 2023 - Risk factors for being NEET among young people - Youth Futures Foundation), has identified several key risk factors that increase the likelihood of young people becoming NEET. These include low educational attainment, often linked to early years development, socio-economic background, and parental education, as well as having a limiting health condition or disability, early parenthood, and care experience or family estrangement. Further analysis from Impetus (2025) (Impetus Youth Jobs Gap - Exploring compound disadvantage) and the Resolution Foundation (2025) (False starts • Resolution Foundation) underscores the importance of addressing compound disadvantage: young people facing multiple challenges, such as having Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND); coming from certain ethnic backgrounds; or from an area of economic disadvantage; are more likely to become and remain NEET. As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, our vision for a Youth Guarantee is to ensure all young people aged 18 to 21 are learning or earning, to prevent them from becoming economically inactive before their careers have even begun. The Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, which launched in Spring 2025, are identifying and engaging young people who require additional support to connect them to opportunities. We will use the learning from the Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee.

What steps her Department plans to take to help re-engage young people with education, health and care plans who are not in employment, education or training.

There are 165,000 16 to 25 year-olds with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Of these, it is estimated that approximately 22,000 are not in education, employment or training (NEET).Published data for the reporting year 2025 shows that approximately 11% of 16 to 19 year-olds with EHC plans and 21% of 20 to 25 year-olds with EHC plans were NEET. The data is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/da86f4d8-c536-4e7d-5ab8-08ddf5e2701a.The department is acting to tackle the number of young people who are NEET.The recently published post-16 education and skills white paper commits us to building a system that leaves no learner behind.We are tackling NEETs by ensuring that every young person has access to education, training or support to move into work, backed by measures such as automatic college places for 16 year-olds without a post-16 plan, subsidised paid work placements, and a guaranteed job for those on Universal Credit unemployed for over 18 months.The Youth Guarantee trailblazers are testing focused support for vulnerable groups such as care leavers, young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and those from alternative provision. This focused support includes mentoring, confidence building, coaching and financial management skills. This testing will inform the future roll out of the Youth Guarantee.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing in year growth funding to schools affected by additional starts relating to provision intended to (a) prevent and (b) reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

The department funds any 16, 17 or 18-year-old who wants a place in post-16 education.Typically, this is through lagged funding, where the main funding is based on student numbers in the year before. However, for those institutions with a significant growth in students, we recognise that there are additional costs and provide in-year funding to help with these.To support providers to offer places to young people across the country, we announced our plans for In Year Growth in the 2025/26 academic year on 27 August 2025. This should support providers to offer places to all young people who want one, including young people not currently in education, employment or training. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2025-to-2026.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing supported internship funding arrangements for young people aged between 16 and 19 who require additional support to enter the workplace but do not have an education, health and care plan.

The department is continuing to invest in supported internships by providing up to £12 million to March 2026 to support local areas to sustain their progress and develop their supported internship offers.This includes funding to expand the department’s pilot that is testing supported internships with young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) but don’t have an education, health and care plan and are furthest from the labour market, to support hundreds more young people with SEND to transition into paid employment.This will help to build the department’s evidence base and inform our evaluation of the pilot, which will inform future policy planning on supported internships. An evaluation of our wider investment is expected to be published next summer, including some learning from the pilot, and a follow-up report with more detailed learning from the pilot is expected in summer 2027.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) local and (b) regional factors on trends in the number of people who are not in education, employment or training.

The quarterly estimates for young people (aged 16-to-24 years) who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK can be found here: Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) - Office for National Statistics. Currently, there is no regional or local breakdown in these Official Statistics. The most recent release from the ONS shows that the NEET rate in the UK has gradually increased on the year to 12.8% in Apr-Jun 2025. The Department for Education produces estimates of young people (aged 16 to 24 years old) who are NEET for England, which can be found here: NEET age 16 to 24, Calendar year 2024 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. Currently, there is no Official Statistical release that shows the trends in 16–24-year-olds NEETs at the local level. The Department for Education does produce a yearly release for those aged 16-17 at local authority level for England. This can be found here: Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority, Academic year 2024/25 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK. This uses the National Client Caseload information system to estimate the number of 16–17-year-olds in England who are not in education, employment or training. The Get Britain Working White Paper set out our ambitions to transform employment support and tackle economic inactivity. As part of this, local areas in England are producing Local Get Britain Working Plans to develop a system-wide approach to identifying and addressing local labour market challenges. The Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, which launched in Spring 2025, are identifying and engaging young people who require additional support to connect them to opportunities. We will use the learning from the Trailblazers to inform the future design and development of the Youth Guarantee.

Whether his Department plans to expand access to mental health services for young people at risk of not being in education, employment or training.

The Department recognises that young people with poor mental health can be at risk of not being in education, employment, or training.This is why the Government is investing in mental health support services for young people, including continuing the roll out of mental health support teams in schools, with almost one million more young people to benefit in education settings this year.The Government's first 50 Young Futures Hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention.

What discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics on the potential impact of trends in participation rates in the Labour Market Force on the accuracy of its estimates of the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Official statistics on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training aged 18-24 years old are estimated using the Labour Force Survey – a large, nationally representative household survey. These official statistics publications include:DfE NEET 16 to 24 year olds in England, which include NEET estimates for 18-24 year olds for England.ONS Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK - Office for National Statistics, which includes NEET 18-24 year old estimates for the UK. DWP uses NEET Official Statistics estimated using the LFS alongside other data sources - such as administrative data from the benefit system like the youth claimant count and administrative data from the PAYE system of employees on payroll – to form a view of what is happening with young people in the labour market. The ONS have faced challenges collecting data via the LFS. These challenges means that LFS-based labour market statistics are currently badged as Official Statistics in Development. As a result of the smaller survey participation rates, additional caution should be taken when interpreting results from the LFS since late 2023. This is transparently explained in Official Statistics publications from DfE and the ONS. The ONS introduced an LFS recovery and sustainability in 2023/2024 and a wider Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan in 2025 to improve responses across the survey resulting in significant improvements to numbers interviewed since 2023. The latest update on actions taken by the ONS to recover the LFS sample and the latest response rates/sample sizes can be found in the following publications - Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics and Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports - Office for National Statistics. These show that sample sizes have started to recover as a result of actions taken by the ONS. At official level DWP regularly engages with ONS and DfE colleagues to help understand their data collection and statistics production; and to help improve the quality of the data and ensure it is useful for DWP’s business needs. The ONS are transforming how they collect and produce LFS data to improve the quality of these statistics. One key aim of the TLFS is to develop it as an online-first multi-mode survey, to ensure it is as easy as possible for respondents to engage. Further information on the TLFS can be found here: Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics. The publication of TLFS headline labour market statistics is currently scheduled for November 2026, although this may extend into 2027 if assessment of TLFS data quality requires more data to be collected and assessed before transition to using TLFS data as the basis from Labour Market Statistics. DfE and ONS plan to continue using LFS/TLFS data to estimate the number of young people categorised as NEET.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the (a) response and (b) participation rates of Labour Market Force surveys.

The DWP monitors a wide range of internal and external data – from management information, a range of surveys and administrative data sources - to inform its policymaking. Actions taken to improve the quality of the ONS LFS data can be found here - Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics And information on the improvements to the sample size and response rate can be found here - Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports - Office for National Statistics