Speeches by Ali.

“I fully agree with my hon. Friend. That is why it is vital that we rebuild our public services and invest in our national health service, to ensure people are able to contribute to our economy. We also inherited a mountain of debt, with the previous Conservative Government having borrowed £1.5 trillion between 2010 and…”

“I am going to make progress, as many colleagues want to speak. The minimum wage and the living wage are being increased to support the lowest paid. The 250 new neighbourhood health centres, which are part of the shift towards the prevention of ill health, will help to tackle stark health inequalities. More widely, in l…”

“Barry, before I bring you in, you made a particular point about the UK achieving the lowest rate of NEETs in the OECD by 2050. What do we need to do to get there?”

“Does anyone else want to come in quickly on that last point, about what we can do to reach that level of ambition?”

“I had some questions about international comparison. The OECD average is lower than the UK average, and you have certain countries like the Netherlands doing extremely well in terms of reducing the number of NEETs to just under 6%. Ours last year was 15.83%. What can we do to bring that number down? What are other coun…”

“You have raised a number of points about employers. In terms of the programmes that have been introduced, of which there is a range, how confident are you that we are moving in the right direction with the mix of programmes that is now being proposed? Who wants to kick off?”

“With these programmes and the attempt to co-ordinate, do you feel that there is anything more that can be done to concentrate minds at the local as well as regional and national levels around outcomes and getting the numbers of people into work? What can be done to specifically drive that outcome focus through from nat…”

“We know from some of the evidence from the Youth Futures Foundation that there are billions to be gained. The economic gains in getting results are crucial, which is why I am interested in what we expect to see.”

“To go back to the point about outcomes, you will have had the Permanent Secretary and others going through what the sum of these programmes will be over the next year, the year after and so on. We are seeing some of the impacts already. Of course, it is a given that to begin with, as these programmes bed in, the number…”

“I have a final question on careers. We have seen over a number of years careers services and all that dismantled. You are trying to rebuild a whole series of support structures, coaching and so on. How much are you focusing on the other part, around relationships and networks, mentoring and coaching, which are still im…”

“Good morning. As you mentioned, the situation with the number of young people who fall into the not in employment, education or training category getting close to a million is not new. It has been going on for years under successive Governments. You have talked about a number of different schemes that have been introdu…”

“Yes.”

“The future jobs fund that was introduced after the global financial crisis was co-financed between Government and employers, giving a guarantee of a period of employment along with a subsidy. Is that what you have in mind? Or is it wholly subsidised?”

“Do any of you have any reflections on the recommendations of the Mayfield report? Are there ones that you are particularly supportive of or others that you are not?”

“You have already made some suggestions, but can you suggest any further practical interventions that would accelerate progress without it presenting undue financial or administrative pressure on businesses? Do you have any further ideas for what the business world—the employer world—can do, and that the Government can …”

“In terms of the recruitment processes that your organisations are undergoing, could you talk us through some of the barriers that employers face and what mitigations are put in place to help to address them? We are aware of not only with those with disabilities but other groups experiencing all sorts of barriers, inclu…”

“So having better advice on dos and don’ts could be helpful to employers.”

“You have already mentioned the challenges around navigation with lots of different organisations, and that clearly is a pressure for employers. In the previous panel we heard suggestions about the need for an advice service where employers can go to a designated institution and get practical advice and help, so that th…”

“This Government were elected on a manifesto that committed us to granting 16-year-olds the right to vote and protecting our democracy from foreign money. I remind the hon. Gentleman that his party lost the general election, in the worst general election defeat for decades, so it is no wonder that the Conservatives are …”

“I very much hope that the Scottish Conservatives will join us in supporting votes at 16.”