A generation of young people has been let down by a lack of political will

Young people attending the London Job Show employment fair at Westfield shopping centre in London earlier this month. Photograph: Susannah Ireland/The Guardian

In considering the release of Alan Milburn’s report, we need to take into account the support structures in the home nations of the UK (Number of young people out of work or training in UK could hit 1.25m by early 2030s, 27 May).

In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, UK governments had a effective tool to support young people to avoid unemployment: careers services run by local authorities. In the early 2000s, the New Labour government that Milburn was a part of replaced this with Connexions, a more generic advice service for youth in England, not exclusively focused on supporting work and learning.