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The Social Mobility Policy Committee publishes its report Social Mobility: Local Roots, Lasting Change.

• Report: Social Mobility: Local Roots, Lasting Change (HTML)
• Report: Social Mobility: Local Roots, Lasting Change (PDF)
• Shorthand story: Local leadership is the way forward for improving social mobility
• Inquiry: Social Mobility Policy
• Social Mobility Policy Committee

There have been numerous attempts over the years to dismantle barriers to social mobility, and to promote equal access to education and work. There is broad consensus that a person’s life chances should not be prescribed by their background, and yet barriers persist and new barriers are emerging, some in part as a result of the Covid pandemic and resulting lockdowns.

There are now also a million young people in the UK who are not in education, training and work (NEETs), a figure that has increased by more than 50% in the past five years.

While the debate on social mobility has changed, education remains a fundamental barrier to many, with a narrow focus on academic subjects at GCSE and students struggling to pass outdated and rigid Maths and English GCSEs which are essential for their chosen apprenticeships in industry. Spiralling living costs, with the cut off for a maximum maintenance loan remaining frozen at its 2008 level, are creating further obstacles to social mobility to those from lower-income backgrounds who wish to attend university.

Key recommendations

After hearing from a range of witnesses including students, employers, education and training providers, universities, local agencies, academics and Government Ministers, the committee has urged the Government to:

• build on the eight existing Youth Trailblazers by expanding their remit to become pilots on social mobility, and increase the number so that they are led by a mix of strategic authorities and local authorities from post-industrial, coastal, rural and urban areas;
• increase the household income threshold at which a student can get the maximum maintenance loan during their time at university, to match inflationary rises;
• continue to site the Minister for Skills role in both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) with the Minister taking the lead responsibility for social mobility, possibly supported by an advisory expert body;
• work with local and combined authorities to improve the collection and sharing of data on NEETs at the local level and develop and implement an adaptable framework approach to initiatives which move NEETs back towards the world of education and work;
• urgently work to find a solution that helps young care leavers into work without a threat to their accommodation;
• closely monitor the effectiveness of the new Growth and Skills Levy to deliver more entry level apprenticeships and consider the extension of the levy at a reduced rate to SMEs;
• implement a dataset that covers the analysis of the relationship between parental income and educational outcomes for a wider section of the population rather than just those claiming certain benefits.

Chair’s comments

Baroness Manningham-Buller, Chair of the Social Mobility Policy Committee, said:

“There are almost one million young people not in education, employment or training. This is shocking and deeply concerning both for the young people involved and society as a whole. It is clear from the evidence we have received and the witnesses we have met during our inquiry that the passion and knowledge of agencies, education providers, employers and individuals in driving local partnerships is fundamental to reducing the number of NEETs and delivering wider social mobility policies. We need educational reform and the devolution of power and support to all parts of the country. Only local partnerships will create job opportunities and remove some of the barriers to social mobility.”