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

Readers respond to the release of Alan Milburn’s report into the rise of young people not in education, employment or training 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. Under the coalition government, Michael Gove disbanded this entirely. He passed responsibility for career guidance to schools, crucially with no allocated budget to support this work. Essentially, careers services for young people were dismantled. As a result, support for those who are unemployed after leaving school is patchy and incoherent. It depends on what local authorities are able to do (and limited input from the National Careers Service, which will soon be folded