Hospitality firms to create up to 100,000 placements for NEET youth over three years

Over the coming three years, the UK hospitality sector plans to deliver as many as 100,000 temporary positions for young people aged 18-24 who are not in employment, education or training. The Department for Work and Pensions is coordinating the effort, which will see restaurant chains such as Wagamama, Nando’s and Burger King, hotel operator Premier Inn and pub groups Fuller’s and Mitchells & Butlers offering placements lasting up to four weeks to build skills and confidence.

The initiative, unveiled by Andy Burnham, follows a similar DWP scheme for retailers and comes ahead of a report by former health secretary Alan Milburn warning that NEET figures could climb to 1.25 million within five years. Education secretary Lucy Powell is also set to review school exclusion policies, linking attendance to NEET risk. Ministers, including work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden and chancellor John Healey, see the programme as a way to curb rising benefit costs and support welfare reform, while opposition leader Kemi Badenoch pushes for broader cuts.