Hospitality Sector to Offer Up to 100,000 Jobs to Young People Not in Work or Education

London: Bars, clubs and restaurants across the United Kingdom will offer up to 100,000 jobs to young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) over the next three years, in a move aimed at giving them a first step on the ladder into work.

The initiative comes ahead of the publication of a report on Neets by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, who has warned that the number of young people not in work or education in the UK could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years unless ministers intervene. His full review into Britain’s youth unemployment crisis, including recommendations to the government on how to address it, is expected shortly after the autumn budget on 28 October.

Working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), hospitality businesses including restaurant chains Wagamama, Nando’s and Burger King, hotel chain Premier Inn, and pub groups including Fuller’s and Mitchells & Butlers will offer Neets aged 18 to 24 placements of up to four weeks to help them gain “the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will launch the scheme during a visit to a hospitality venue on Thursday. It follows a similar programme announced by the DWP last month for retailers including Marks & Spencer, Asda, Pets at Home and the John Lewis Partnership.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the scheme would help young people “get their first step on the ladder” and build their careers. “With the UK employment rate now the second highest in the G7, this will unlock 100,000 jobs and connect young people with employers ready to take them on and help them build a brighter future,” he said.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell is also expected to announce a review of school exclusion policy, after research showed that pupils who are persistently absent from school are nearly four times more likely to end up not in employment, education or training. A consultation will seek views on measures to support pupils at risk of exclusion, improve their integration into the classroom and help children remain engaged in learning.

“Absence and exclusion are too often a path to disengagement, with increased risks of becoming Neet. Too many young people who fall out of education risk being permanently left on the sidelines of work and opportunity,” Powell said.

Milburn has signalled that Britain’s benefits system should be overhauled, alongside measures to strengthen job support, training and apprenticeships. He has previously argued for the introduction of a national apprenticeship readiness scheme in England to bridge the gap between leaving school and starting work. Ministers are understood to be considering sweeping changes to the welfare system, including scrapping a key disability benefit for under-25s and replacing it with a multibillion-pound package of support to help young people into employment.

Chancellor John Healey has indicated a willingness to curb the government’s rising benefits bill, while McFadden has said there is both a moral and an economic case for reforming the welfare system, as the war in the Middle East places pressure on the public finances.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has made welfare cuts a central plank of her attacks on the government, telling Burnham at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that he should reduce welfare spending to fund higher defence expenditure.

However, ministers are expected to tread carefully to avoid a confrontation with Labour backbenchers, hoping to prevent a repeat of the welfare rebellion that previously forced Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves into an embarrassing and costly U-turn.