Stephen Evans

Stephen Evans

@stephenevans.bsky.social

Chief Executive, Learning and Work Institute. Ex HMT, SMF and London government. Learning, skills, labour markets & public policy. Views my own.

1.3K followers394 following847 posts

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

This is, as ever from Paul, just immensely clear and helpful. Well worth a read for anyone interested in this subject.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social

What's gone wrong with welfare? An excellent explainer by Paul Gregg for @resolutionfoundation.org www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

resolutionfoundation.orgWhat’s gone wrong with welfare? • Resolution FoundationIntroduction Over the last decade, Britain’s welfare system has malfunctioned. In May 2026, there were 8.4 million people in families receiving Universal Credit (UC); 5.2 million of these were out of ...

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

"We have no more time to waste. It’s time for action." 📣 ✍️ Reflecting on the number of young people not in education, employment or training, L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social sets out five priority steps to improve the system. Read Stephen's full article in @fenews.bsky.social. ⬇️

fenews.co.ukTime to Make the Youth Guarantee Real: A Promise and Plan for Every Young Person | FE News| Time to Make the Youth Guarantee Real: A Promise and Plan for Every Young Person
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Ahead of the Milburn Review, I argue that the number of NEETs is a problem long in the making but with recent drivers too. There isn't a single answer: the benefit system should offer more help, we need to look at the jobs market for YP, health, education & work services need joining up etc

fenews.co.ukTime to Make the Youth Guarantee Real: A Promise and Plan for Every Young Person | FE News| Time to Make the Youth Guarantee Real: A Promise and Plan for Every Young Person
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Here's my 5 priorities for action. As Milburn's said, this will require more spending up front. It should then save money, but likely not in fiscal rules timelines, unhelpfully for the Govt's fiscal plans. So I'm sure a nub of the debate will be: cuts to save money v investment to improve outcomes.

Stephen Evans reposted

Nye Cominetti
@nyecominetti.bsky.social

The LPC by now will have sent their minimum wage recommendations for 2027 to the Govt. We'll hear about them in the budget next week. I was at their information gathering day, and did some charts on youth employment. Have written them up here. resolutionfoundation.substack.com/p/is-the-min...

resolutionfoundation.substack.comIs the minimum wage to blame for falling youth employment?Nye Cominetti digs into the youth employment stats, and gives his recommendation for minimum wage uprating
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Labour market relatively flat. This is +ve resilience given overall economic conditions. But with underlying weaknesses that need tackling: 1m young people are NEET & no progress to Govt's 80% employment rate target. Need more active job search help but also growth & job friendly conditions.

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Find out how much of a morning person I'm definitely not by tuning into LBC at about 6.35 when I'll be speaking about how we can help young people not in education, employment or training. The benefit system needs to provide more help, but that's not enough on its own.

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

1. A bit sceptical that if only NICs etc were lower degree apprenticeships would still be rising. First, the apprenticeship budget is fully spent. So if you want degree apps to constantly rise, everything else has to constantly shrink unless you put more money in.

ft.comDegree apprenticeships plateau as employers confront increased hiring costsCompanies blame red tape and increased minimum wage regulation for cutting back on earn-as-you-learn opportunities for young people
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

2. Second, there was a spike in 21+ L7 apprenticeships ahead of funding for them being removed. This spike will have sucked up money from other groups & also meant a dip following year. Degree apps can be great, but same access issues as with HE generally so not boosting social mobility.

learningandwork.org.ukFlex and match: a new Skills Levy for growth and opportunity - Learning and Work InstituteThis report makes the case for broadening the apprenticeship levy into a “flex and match” Skills Levy that would give employers greater flexibility to spend their levy, but only if they also invest in...
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

3. Lots needs to change with the apprenticeship system. This Govt has reduced min length below 1 year & removed English & maths (bad in my view). And has started to try to pivot system back to young people starting out (good in my view). But employers need to invest in training beyond the levy too!

learningandwork.org.ukUnderstanding employer investment in skills - Learning and Work InstituteThis is the third and final report of our project funded by the Nuffield Foundation looking at employer investment in skills, and how employees are responding to the need to upskill and retrain in a t...

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

In @peoplemanagement.bsky.social, L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social comments on the impact of skills shortages. 🗞️ Stephen highlights that skills shortages can "hold businesses back and prevent them from taking up new opportunities, such as AI." ⬇️

peoplemanagement.co.ukQuarter of vacancies hard to fill because of skills shortages, government report findsExperts warn against relying on ‘ready-made talent’ as investment in training fell by 19 per cent between 2011 and 2024

Stephen Evans reposted

School for Government
@schoolforgovt.bsky.social

In the first instalment of our new series – The Growth Papers – authors John Kingman and Shriti Vadera set out why Britain needs a truly ambitious growth policy agenda, and how this can be achieved. 🧵⬇️ Read the report and subscribe to receive future issues

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

"The best firms know that investing in their people is what separates those who adapt from those who get left behind." Great to see our new report funded by @nuffieldfoundation.org in @peoplemanagement.bsky.social with a quote from L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social. 🗞️

peoplemanagement.co.ukL&D spending dropped by a third since 2011, research findsExperts warn reduced investment and shorter training could make addressing skills gaps harder

Stephen Evans reposted

Tom Richmond
@tom-richmond.com

So, Vocational GCSEs, eh? If you think that something about this announcement feels eerily familiar, you're in good company. Time for a quick history lesson.... My new post on LinkedIn: lnkd.in/p/eJVMzP-S

Stephen Evans reposted

Jonathan Portes
@jdportes.bsky.social

We're not quite as useless as we thought, just a bit lazier. Me on the ONS productivity revisions. ukandeu.ac.uk/britains-pro...

ukandeu.ac.ukBritain’s productivity disaster was real—but not quite as disastrous as we thought - UK in a changing EuropeJonathan Portes explains why the ONS updated its productivity estimates for the period between 2009 and 2019 from 0.7 per cent to 1.3 per cent and what this change actually means for the UK economy.
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

I'm sure numbers will ramp up somewhat. But foundation apprenticeships are not actually apprenticeships & have always felt like a solution in search of a problem. We do need good pre-apprenticeship training mind you - whole apprenticeship system needs getting back on track.

theguardian.comOnly 160 apprenticeship starts in eight months on Labour’s flagship schemeExclusive: Government warned ‘skills revolution’ at risk amid slow start to project with target of 30,000 starts by end of parliament

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

"Headline stability in the job stats masks two underlying and related challenges." Read L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social's comment on today's labour market stats in @personneltoday.bsky.social: www.personneltoday.com/hr/uk-labour... And @fenews.bsky.social: www.fenews.co.uk/fe-voices/on...

personneltoday.comLabour market: Vacancies fall to five-year lowUK labour market fragility persists as official figures estimate vacancies have fallen to their lowest level since April 2026.

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

The Times has reported that the Government is testing not sanctioning benefit claimants for the first rule breach. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... 🗞️ We evaluated a previous trial in 2018 looking at its effectiveness. ⬇️

learningandwork.org.ukJobseeker’s Allowance: Sanctions Early Warning Trial - Learning and Work InstituteIn April 2016, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) commissioned Learning and Work Institute (L&W) to conduct a qualitative research with DWP and Work Programme (WP) staff who had delivered a Jo...

Stephen Evans reposted

Louise Murphy
@louisemurphy.bsky.social

DWP has just published a flurry of new data on how PIP and UC-Health assessments are carried out (face-to-face or via phone, video or paper) and whether this impacts who gets awarded health-related benefits. Five takeaways 🧵

Stephen Evans reposted

Learning and Work Institute
@learnworkuk.bsky.social

"The employment rate is relatively high by international standards, but risks trending in the wrong direction with 3.9 million people not in work but saying they want a job." ✍️ L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social comments on today's labour market stats from ONS.

learningandwork.org.ukLabour market stats response, September 2026 - Learning and Work InstituteL&W's chief executive Stephen Evans responds to the latest labour market data from ONS.
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Fairly flat labour market data but two underpinning & linked challenges. First, job growth esp in sector like retail & hospitality (down 150k in a year) is struggling. International uncertainty won't help. Second, 1m young people are NEET and we need to do more than we are to help them.

Stephen Evans reposted

Dan Neidle
@danneidle.bsky.social

Universities UK wants the government to scrap employer National Insurance for everyone under 25. It doesn’t say what that would cost. Or how many jobs it would create. So we did the maths: £6–7bn a year, or £60-100k for every additional job. A 🧵 on dumb tax policy.

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Connect to Work isn't hitting the Government's expectations which it published in July (six weeks ago). Those expectations were revised down from previous ones published earlier in the year. It needs to work with local government (who are responsible in their areas) to ramp things up.

Learning and Work Institute@learnworkuk.bsky.social

New statistics on the Connect to Work employment programme have been published today. 🔍 L&W analysis shows the expected versus actual number of programme and employment starts on Connect to Work, alongside how the Restart programme looked at a similar point in delivery. ⬇️

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

In June we found that Connect to Work (Govt's flagship programme to help disabled people into work) had only achieved 50% of what it's business case expected so far. In July the business case was reprofiled. But new stats today show delivery is short again! What's going on?!

Stephen Evans@stephenevans.bsky.social

The Govt's now updated its Connect to Work business case to reflect the slower than expected start, revise down lifetime starts by 20k, calculate benefits differently (increasing impact assessment). Overall, scheme only gets 20k additional people in work but generates £1.2bn fiscal savings.

gov.uk30 July 2026: Connect to Work - Programme Business Case 2 Summary
Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

6% (42k) of 16-17 year olds in college are missing >50% of their classes (the measure used in schools). Good work by the Children's Commissioner to get this data. Not a huge %, but suggests we need to do more for those YP - are they really hidden NEET? That would double the 16-17 NEET pop.

FE Week@feweek.bsky.social

Tens of thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds are enrolled in further education colleges but missing more than half their classes, analysis suggests https://feweek.co.uk/42000-college-students-are-hidden-neets-childrens-commissioner-finds/

Stephen Evans
@stephenevans.bsky.social

Looks like the Social Mobility Commission is to close with the civil servants transferring to Bridget Phillipson. Continues trend of bringing various functions (e.g. on apprenticeships) in house, but with no overall reduction in staff numbers as far as I can see).

theguardian.comMinisters to put white working-class people in UK at heart of new equalities unitBridget Phillipson to announce creation of unit which will make class a key part of its equalities agenda

Stephen Evans reposted

John Burn-Murdoch
@jburnmurdoch.ft.com

Two extraordinary charts from today’s PISA test results: 1) School test scores continue to collapse internationally, underscoring how this is no longer a Covid effect but sustained decline. Those falls in reading and maths are equivalent to about two years of lost schooling.