Unemployment: Young People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis his Department has conducted on the underlying causes behind the month-on-month increase of 15 youth claimants aged 18 to 24 in Leicester East between June and July 2026; and what immediate support is available to prevent short-term youth unemployment from converting into long-term economic inactivity.
Answered by Department for Work and Pensions
The government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. It will also help unlock up to 200,000 more employment opportunities, through a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers hiring 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, a new £2,000 apprenticeship hiring payment for non-levy employers hiring 16–24-year-olds and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job.
Between Q2 2024 and Q1 2026, Jobcentre Plus sites in Leicester East and across Leicestershire have delivered the previous DWP Youth Offer which provided tailored work coach support to 16- to 24-year-olds on UC in Great Britain. The Youth Guarantee has been rolled out across all Jobcentres since Q1 2026 and we are ensuring a clear pathway into the new Youth Guarantee by reforming the existing DWP Youth Offer, ensuring all young people can access support. This includes increasing work coach time with young people, to provide more personalised employment support and improving connections to national provision, and opportunities to earn or learn.
Young people now receive tailored guidance and offered up to six options (such as: work, work experience, Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), apprenticeship, training or learning) to help them progress into employment. This support includes access to specialist work coaches – Youth Employability Coaches - to help address complex barriers to work and the partnership led Youth Hub network.
There are currently 3 Youth Employability Coaches in Leicester City and 5 in Leicestershire. This number is constantly reviewed as numbers of customers requiring the extra support offered by Youth Employability Coaches change.
Work Experience is widely offered across both the City and County with a wide range of employers across a number of sectors offering opportunities.
The Youth Hubs expansion will increase coverage to more than 360 locations across Great Britain, combining employment help from Jobcentre work coaches with local services for health, housing, and wellbeing. Currently, in Leicester, there is a Youth Hub at Leicester City Youth Hub - King Power Stadium, which is in the Leicester West constituency but can be accessible for constituents in Leicester East within an hour.
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