Person
Former Labour cabinet minister and UK health secretary who has since led government reviews on social mobility and opportunity.
Centre for Cities analysis of 2021 census data puts the Neet rate at 15.7% in England's 10 smallest cities and towns, against 13.9% in the nine largest. The gap is 1.8 points, and London and Birmingham still have the most young Neets by count.
Reality
Work Foundation researchers say a Community Jobs Fund could create up to 54,000 paid jobs for young people in the UK's weakest labour markets. They argue the government's Youth Guarantee is not sufficient to address the shortage of entry-level jobs in struggling areas.
Reality
UK hospitality employers pledged up to 100,000 placements of up to four weeks for Neets aged 18 to 24 over three years. It follows a retail pledge of the same size last month, so ministers now hold two matching commitments from separate sectors.
Reality
Alan Milburn will urge a national pre-apprenticeship route for England, where as few as one in five apprenticeship starts go to 16- to 18-year-olds. Employers who recruit school-leavers face the readiness gap he describes now, while his remedy is still only a recommendation.
Reality
Professor Peter Fonagy's review finds distress among young people has risen substantially and cites a £300bn cost of mental-ill-health absence to work. For employers hiring young staff, its waiting-list figures bear on support policy sooner than the headline cost does.
Reality
Skills minister Jacqui Smith says the £25bn employer tax rise is not the main driver of youth unemployment, now at 16.4%. Her offer to employers is £2,000 per young apprentice at small firms, with the payroll tax on 21- to 24-year-olds left as it is.
Reality
Andy Burnham's first conference speech as prime minister promised a 45-day work placement between 16 and 18 and an apprenticeship at 18. He put the obligation on young people, and who hosts the placements waits for Alan Milburn's imminent report on NEETs.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishersReality
A researcher who followed 80 visually impaired young people for 11 years found many had never held a paid job by age 25 to 27. Their own accounts put the obstacles in hiring and state support after school, though the study does not give a jobless count.
Reality
A three-week taxpayer-funded pilot in Preston is training young people who are not in education, employment or training, and the apprenticeships that follow put the cost of real competence on JD Sports, Heinz and Agilysys.
Reality