Tear up Tory apprenticeship guidelines to get ‘Neets’ into work, Andy Burnham to be informed
EXCLUSIVE: A review by former Cabinet member Alan Milburn into England’s ‘Neets’ crisis is expected to point at an apprenticeship levy introduced under Theresa May
Andy Burnham faces calls to act over apprenticeships
A review into Britian’s Neets crisis is expected to urge Andy Burnham to tear up Tory-era apprenticeship rules to get young people into work, The Mirror understands.
Former cabinet member Alan Milburn has warned an apprenticeship levy brought in under Theresa May means employers are more likely to take on older and more qualified workers. Mr Milburn has raised the alarm about the number of young adults who are not in education, employment or training (Neet).
Mr Milburn, who will set out his findings in the autumn, said: “Demand is clearly outweighing supply when apprenticeship providers are having to turn away thousands of applicants. I’ve heard this story again and again. The system and the levy have moved a long way from what they were originally there to do.
“Apprenticeships were built to be a direct route into work for young people. All too often they are used to upskill existing, already qualified employees.”
The levy, introduced in 2017, requires all employers with an annual pay bill over £3 million to invest 0.5% of their payroll into apprenticeship training. But there have been longstanding concerns that employers prefer higher level apprenticeships, including degree apprenticeships – which is limiting availability of entry-level opportunities.
Mr Milburn said: “Apprenticeships open vital doors for many young people which would otherwise stay shut. My review will look carefully at how we put young people back at the front of the queue.”
In 2024 a report by London Economics warned there had been a shift away from lower-level apprenticeships, which disproportionately impacted younger people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
In May an interim review carried out by Mr Milburn found 84% of Neets said they wanted a job or training. His intervention came as the latest official figures showed the number of ‘Neets’ hit the highest level for more than 12 years at a staggering 1.01million from January to March – a 55,000 increase.
It is expected that his full review, due later this year, will call on the government to bring in sweeping changes to make apprenticeships more readily available. BAE Systems, the UK’s biggest apprenticeship provider, takes on more than 1,100 apprentices every year. Yet more than 27,000 applied for these roles this year alone.
And applications for E.ON’s degree apprenticeships have more than trebled in the past three years, from 45 per role in 2023 to around 165 in 2026. Apprenticeship starts among under-19s in England fell from around 130,000 in 2014/15 to around 75,000 a decade later.
Over the same period the proportion of starts going to people under 25 fell from more than 57% to just under 49%. Former Health Secretary Mr Milburn said in May that the rising number of ‘Neets’ is a moral crisis.
He said: “The question today is no longer whether the current position is somehow unfortunate, it is whether it is sustainable. My answer is no, it is not. As a growing older generation becomes increasingly reliant on the next generation to sustain it, every young person has to have more opportunities to learn or earn and to get a job.
“The problem is that for too many young people, opportunities are not growing, they’re shrinking.”
