On Thursday 11 June, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Lord Bishop of Leicester, spoke in a House of Lords debate on Welfare Reform and Youth Unemployment. You can read his speech below, in full.
"My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Evans of Rainow, for securing this debate and grateful to all taking part in this debate. Noble Lords may differ on the diagnosis, but I think the whole House shares the same concern for the young people behind these figures.
I want to begin by noting that none of us like to be labelled, and the use of acronyms to refer to people is even more disconcerting. Each young person is unique and precious whatever their circumstances, and their dignity must be at the heart of our concerns.
I also want to push back on the narrative, which we often see in the media, that the rise in young people who are not in education, employment or training reflects a generation that has no appetite for work.
My Lords, the evidence simply does not bear that out. In research by the Learning and Work Institute, the vast majority of young people who were not in work, education or training – 84% - had clear career or education aspirations for the next three to five years. Only 6% said they did not want to find work.
Nor is it a case of unrealistic aspirations – only 4% said they were waiting for an opportunity in a specific sector whereas 17% said they planned to find any job they could.
Similarly, research by the King’s Trust showed that one in five young people who are NEET are applying for jobs every single day. Almost a third have applied for jobs they did not even want, out of sheer desperation to get a foothold in the labour market. One in six have been rejected from more than fifty positions. And more than half say they feel embarrassed about not having a job.
That, my Lords, is not a picture of idleness. It speaks of a generation knocking on doors that are not opening — because more than half of so-called entry-level vacancies now demand prior experience, on average nearly three years of it.
So, we should be especially wary of stigmatising young people, and suggesting they have a poor work ethic and a lack of, or unrealistic, ambition. Because the more that narrative takes hold, the more reluctant employers will be to take a chance on them.
We will, in other words, perpetuate the problem which we want to solve.
So, if the problem is not a lack of work ethic, the solution is not necessarily tough love. It is, at least in part, confidence, coaching and a community that believes in them.
And here, my Lords, I want to commend a model that does precisely this — the Spear Programme, run by the charity Resurgo, and delivered through local churches.
Spear began in 2003 at St Paul's church in Hammersmith, as a response to the unemployed young people on its own doorstep. It has since grown to some eighteen centres across the country, and works with over 1,000 young people each year – all of whom face multiple significant barriers to work – mental health issues, criminal history, adverse childhood trauma.
The programme involves six weeks of group work and one-to-one coaching that tackles the psychological barriers as much as the practical ones — confidence, mindset and resilience, alongside CV-writing, interview practice and job-search skills — followed by up to a year of ongoing support as each young person moves into work or education and, crucially, stays there.
Around three-quarters of those who complete the programme are in work or training a year later.
What I really want to draw out for the House from this model is the importance of a supportive community in helping marginalised young people into work, and the importance of a trusted adult to journey with each young person.
So, as Ministers build out the Youth Guarantee, I would urge them to recognise that the availability of placements on its own is not enough for young people who face multiple barriers to work. Many young people need the intensive, personalised, confidence-building support that organisations like Spear provide before they are fully ready for a placement.
And building supportive communities and trusted adults into the programme will not only help young people into work, but it will also provide a corrective experience to those young people who feel let down by social services or education. And the positive ripple effects of this are generational, passed down onto their children, and important for our society as a whole, not just our labour market."
Martyn Snow
Lord Bishop of Leicester