Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Milburn Report

Monday 12 October 2026 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Alan Milburn delivered an interim report on youth employment and will present his final report soon.
  • Alex McIntyre raised concerns about over 2,500 young people in Gloucester not being in employment, education, or training.
  • Caroline Dinenage criticized the Secretary of State for not addressing the rise in youth unemployment under the current government.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alex McIntyre
Employment
Context

The questioner inquires about the progress of Alan Milburn's final report on youth employment, noting that the interim report was delivered a few months ago.

Question

What recent progress has Alan Milburn made on producing the final “Young People and Work” report?

Answer from Pat McFadden

Alan Milburn delivered his interim report a few months ago and will deliver his final report in a few weeks' time. I thank Alan Milburn for his tremendous work highlighting the issue of youth inactivity.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q2 Alex McIntyre
Employment Local Government
Context

The questioner mentions over 2,500 young people in Gloucester not in employment, education or training and expresses the need for a collaborative effort to solve the issue.

Question

Ahead of Alan Milburn's report, in Gloucester there are over 2,500 young people not in employment, education or training. I have spoken with many of them across the last two years who want an opportunity but have been let down by the system. Something needs to change. At the end of November, I am hosting the Gloucestershire Futures summit with Gloucestershire county council. We have invited schools and colleges, local employers, healthcare providers, local government and the third sector in an effort to get everyone in the room to discuss how we can solve the problem together. I know the Secretary of State has a long list of constituencies to visit after today's questions, but he also shares my determination to give every young person the opportunity to fulfil their potential, so will he or one of his team join us for the summit at the end of November?

Answer from Pat McFadden

I will add the summit to the list of places to go. I would dearly love to visit my hon. Friend's constituency, and if I cannot, I will ensure that one of my colleagues does. On the point of substance that he raises, the problem of youth inactivity in the country has built up over many years, and not enough has been done about it in the past. We now have the youth guarantee, which is investing in the issue. We know that there is more that we must do, which is why we are looking forward to the final report from Alan Milburn in a few weeks' time.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not confirm his attendance at the summit but said he would add it to his list.

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Q3 Caroline Dinenage Con Gosport
Social Care Economy Employment Business & Trade
Context

The questioner expresses concern about the increase in NEET figures in Gosport under the current government, citing specific statistics and the impact of taxes on businesses providing jobs for young people.

Question

When it comes to youth unemployment, it sounds like the Secretary of State has his head very firmly in the sand. Did he not hear Member after Member from across this House stand up and quote how the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training has gone up under this Government? The Secretary of State quotes back to us the national figures for people in employment overall, but that is because the population has gone up. What are the NEET figures? In Gosport, the number of young people not in education, employment or training has gone up by 23% under this Government. That is all because of the number of taxes that are being put on the businesses there to employ them, particularly the small businesses that provide the Saturday jobs and apprenticeships: hair and beauty, adult social care and care. What will Alan Milburn's report say, and what is the Secretary of State actually going to do about it?

Answer from Pat McFadden

The truth is that it has been a problem for a long time. I repeat what I said to the shadow Secretary of State: under the Government that the hon. Lady supported, the number of NEETs went up by a quarter of a million between 2021 and 2024. She asks me what we will do, and in addition to the programmes I have announced, we recently announced a partnership with the British Retail Consortium to hire 100,000 young people not in education, employment or training over the next few years. The hon. Lady will be pleased to know that the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation survey showed the strongest hiring sentiment in four years.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not address the specific NEET figures in Gosport or provide details of Alan Milburn's report.

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Q4 Andrew Snowden
Taxation Employment
Context

The questioner criticizes the government for delaying Alan Milburn's report and questions the Treasury's reluctance to include the report's plan in the Budget.

Question

Labour has been talking up the Milburn report for months, and the Treasury is so pleased with the report that it has delayed it until after the Budget, which means it is not going to be good news for taxpayers or the bond market. While the Government dither and delay, we have published our plan for tough love on youth unemployment: support from day one to get back into work, and after six months, those who can work but won't work will have their benefits cut. I am sure the Chancellor of the Exchequer would welcome our cost-cutting plan in the Budget, so can the Secretary of State explain why the Treasury does not want his plan in the Budget?

Answer from Pat McFadden

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Chancellor's speech at our party conference a couple of weeks ago, in which he was quite clear that we owe young people not just an income, but a future too. That is why the Government are behind the agenda I am setting out. I look forward to reading Alan Milburn's final report in a few weeks' time, and I remind the shadow Minister and everyone on the Opposition Benches that Alan Milburn was clear in his interim report that the problems we are talking about are deep-seated, long-term and have existed in this country for a great many years.

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not explain why the Treasury does not want his plan in the Budget.

How: Referring To A Previous Speech, Mentioning A Future Report

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