Starmer lacks coherent social mobility plan, top government adviser says
Sir Keir Starmer does not have a “coherent approach to social mobility”, the government’s social mobility commissioner has said.
Alun Francis, one of the government’s chief advisors, he told the Guardian He noted the lack of an “overarching narrative” that would bring together the various policy elements and called on the prime minister to outline a clearer strategy.
Report prepared by the commission The report, published last week, warned that “extreme regional disparities exist” in the UK, with many former industrial and mining areas being worst affected.
“We have a government that talks a lot about social mobility but mainly about individuals, mostly [the] It is the social mobility of themselves or their colleagues,” Francis said.
“But what we don’t have is a coherent approach to social mobility as a useful concept around which you can build a strategy.”
While he praised individual policies on housing and skills, he said other proposals were “stop-start”, with almost a million young people currently out of education, work or training.
“We have other policies that we’re not sure where we’re going, like growth, improving education,” Francis said.
He said without an overall strategy the government “will struggle to address some of these issues and not have a clear view of what we can do to improve things”.
Among the conclusions of the week’s report were that a child’s family background still greatly shapes their educational attainment and future life chances in the UK. It was also stated that there were “extreme regional inequalities” within the country.
A government spokesman said the number of young people out of education, work or training was a crisis that could not be ignored and said the review by Alan Milburn would help establish a system that would ensure every young person had the opportunity to make something of their life.
The report stated that the North East of England, Yorkshire, the Humber and the West Midlands face “persistent disadvantages”, while former mining regions in Wales and Scotland are also “markedly disadvantaged”.
However, the report notes that new regions outside London with “suitable conditions for innovation and growth” include Aberdeen, Brighton, Bristol, Chester, Edinburgh, Oxfordshire, Reading and West Berkshire.
It was also stated that almost half of young people aged 25 to 29 will be working in professional occupations between 2022 and 2024, up from 36% between 2014 and 2016.
However, it was stated that people from low socioeconomic backgrounds “are not able to benefit from these opportunities as much as their peers.”
