The Labour Party Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been urged to introduce mandatory work-readiness lessons for all Year 9 students in England. The call comes in a submission to Mr Burnham and Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Autumn Budget, in which the London Chamber of Commerce argues the change would give young people the skills they need to enter the workplace and reduce the training burden on employers.
Chamber says too many pupils leave without practical workplace understanding
In its submission, the London Chamber of Commerce says: “Too many young people leave education without the practical understanding of the workplace that employers assume, from how to apply and interview to how a workplace actually functions, and the gap falls hardest on those without family networks to fill it in.”
The Chamber adds that building work-readiness into the secondary curriculum from Year 9 would give every pupil that grounding regardless of background, reducing the training burden that currently falls on employers and, more importantly, levelling a playing field that is currently tilted by who you know rather than what you can do.
Investment in social mobility
The submission describes the proposal as “an investment in social mobility that pays back as a more work-ready generation”. It argues that mandatory lessons would ensure all young people, irrespective of their family connections, gain the practical understanding of the workplace that employers assume.
Mr Burnham is also urged to require lenders and credit agencies to recognise rental payment history. At present, a renter who has paid consistently on time for years can be refused a mortgage with lower monthly payments, because the single most relevant piece of evidence, a proven track record of meeting a housing cost, counts for nothing in their lender’s assessment of them.
Rental payment recognition would close credit gap
Requiring lenders and credit agencies to recognise consistent rental payment as evidence of creditworthiness would close that gap at no cost to anyone, rewarding exactly the financial discipline the system claims to want. Some lenders already do this voluntarily; making it standard would extend the benefit to every reliable renter.
The two proposals form part of the London Chamber of Commerce’s wider submission to the Prime Minister and Chancellor ahead of the Autumn Budget, focusing on reducing the burden on employers and improving social mobility for young people across England.
