Alan Milburn’s interim review into young people not in education, employment or training lays bare what those of us working in careers support services have long observed: this is a system failure, not a failure of young people (‘A record of failure’: what’s in the first part of Alan Milburn’s Neet report?, 28 May).
Milburn rightly identifies the deep structural dysfunction that has left more than 1 million young people locked out of work and learning – and the stark imbalance between the £25 spent on benefits for every £1 directed at employment support. But the review’s framing of this primarily as a welfare and employment problem risks missing a deeper structural deficit: the chronic underinvestment in high-quality, impartial careers guidance across schools, colleges and communities.
For every pound redirected from benefits to employment support, we might also ask how little has ever been directed toward helping young people develop the career management skills, self-knowledge and labour market awareness that would prevent them reaching that fork in the road in the first place. Early, sustained careers intervention – not just at the point of crisis – is where systemic change must begin. Schools cannot deliver this without ringfenced, direct-delivery funding for trained, independent career guidance professionals.
The role of AI-powered careers tools offers real potential here, particularly in reaching young people who fall outside institutional support structures. But technology alone cannot substitute for the human relationships and mentoring that, as the review’s own case studies demonstrate, make the decisive difference.
Milburn’s final report, with its solutions, is keenly awaited this autumn. It must place a reformed, properly resourced careers guidance system – spanning education, health and welfare – at its centre.
Dr Deirdre Hughes
Executive director, CareerChat UK
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