In this week's MP column, David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, discusses opportunities for education, employment and training for young people.

There is a quiet crisis affecting towns like ours, and it doesn't get nearly enough attention. 

Across the country, almost one million young people are not in education, employment or training. That number rose sharply in recent years, up by around 250,000, and it is hitting areas like Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove particularly hard.  

But for me, this isn't just another number. It's personal. 

Before I was elected to Parliament, much of my working life was spent helping young people and families into work, often those who had been written off by others. 

I started out working in our local Sure Start centres, like those in Normacot and Tunstall, supporting young families and helping parents — particularly young mums — build confidence, skills and a pathway into employment. With colleagues, I helped to set up initiatives like Start Up Citywide, working directly with those who had fallen out of the system and needed a second chance. 

Later, at the YMCA, I established and ran award-winning employment programmes designed to do one simple thing: get young people back into work, training or education. 

And what I learned then still applies now. 

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Most young people who are out of work are not there because they lack potential. They are there because something, somewhere, has failed them. That might be poor mental health support, a lack of opportunities, or simply no one taking the time to guide them. 

Left unaddressed, the consequences are serious. A young person who becomes disconnected from work or education can lose, on average, up to £1 million in earnings over their lifetime. Imagine that: for every young person who slips through the net, our local economy loses up to £1 million. We might not feel it here and now, but we will feel it in the future – as will our children and grandchildren. We will feel it in weaker public services, in new businesses and new jobs. The effects will be all around us in lost opportunities. That is not just a personal tragedy for the affected young people, it is a loss for our entire community. 

But there is a route forward. And it has to combine national action with local delivery. 

That is why I welcome the Government's expansion of the Youth Guarantee, backed by £2.5 billion, which will create hundreds of thousands of opportunities for young people to earn or learn.  

This includes real, practical support: a £3,000 incentive for employers to take on young people who have been out of work, new apprenticeship incentives, and an expanded Jobs Guarantee offering paid work and training to those who need it most.  

But national policy alone is not enough. 

If there is one lesson from my early career, it is that this work succeeds or fails locally. 

That is why the investment we are bringing into Stoke-on-Trent matters so much. 

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At Stoke-on-Trent College's Burslem campus, Labour's Levelling Up Partnership is supporting the development of a new Green Skills Hub, which will give young people the chance to train for the jobs of the future, in areas like clean energy, construction and modern manufacturing. 

This is exactly the kind of practical, local intervention we need: connecting young people directly to real opportunities, with employers who are looking for skills. 

Because the challenge is not just about getting young people into any job. It is about getting them into the right job, with a future. 

But none of this works unless we take responsibility locally as well. 

We need councils, colleges, employers and community organisations all pulling in the same direction, identifying those young people at risk of falling out of the system and stepping in early to support them. 

It comes down to dignity, opportunity and fairness. When a young person gets their first job, it changes everything, for them, for their family and for their future. 

I simply do not accept that any young person in Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove should be left behind. That's why this work matters, and that's why I will continue to do all I can to ensure local people get the opportunities they deserve.