Social Mobility Symposium: Meet the 2026 speakers

Next week, Tuesday 23rd June, the Social Mobility Commission will host its annual Social Mobility Symposium, bringing together policymakers, cross-party voices and experts, to explore the landscape of the UK’s welfare system and its direct impact on NEETs and social mobility.  

There has been a flurry of stark statistics on young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) in the last few months. The Office for National Statistics confirmed NEET rates hit one million, the highest rate in over a decade, and an independent interim diagnostic report, led by Alan Milburn, warned of deep rooted failures in the state risking an entire generation of lost potential. 

For too long, young people have had the blame shifted to them. Snowflake generation, just lazy, overdiagnosis, TikTok addiction – all of these are frequently thrown around as unfounded ‘diagnosis’ of why 1 in 10 young people aged 18-24 now find themselves NEET. 

Three keynote speakers, four panels and more than 20 panelists will come together to discuss the real reasons behind the numbers and how to turn the tide on this concerning trend. 

Meet our keynote speakers:

Angela Rayner, MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, previous Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Deputy Labour Leader  

In 2015, Angela Rayner became the first woman MP in the 180-year history of her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency. In July 2024, Angela served as the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government until September 2025.

Prior to becoming one of the most powerful female politicians in the UK, Angela Rayner grew up on a council estate in Stockport, Manchester, left education with no qualifications and was told she would ‘never amount to anything’. She went on to study at a local FE College and then began working on the front line of public services as a care worker for the council. This led her to the trade union movement and rose through the ranks to become the most senior elected official of UNISON in the North West of England. 

“Class is a problem still… No matter how much I achieve or how many policies I announce, people still say I’m thick — ‘Look at the state of her’ — or ask how dare I go to Glyndebourne.” – Angela Rayner in an interview with The Times, Feb 2025

Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent and Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions

Helen Whately was elected as an MP in 2015, in 2019 she became the government Arts Minister at DCMS, Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party and Vice Chair for Women. In 2020 she was Minister of State for Care at the Department of Health and Social Care and then Exchequer Secretary at the Treasury until 2022. 

Helen recently shared her response to the Alan Milburn interim report into NEETs from the perspective of a politician and a mother to teenage children. Helen sees the debate as requiring a focus on both preparing the young people themselves for work and ensuring employers have the job opportunities to employ them. 

“Nobody should pretend this crisis is driven by one single issue. It is a map of a growing web of interconnected challenges spanning welfare, health, skills policy and beyond.” –  Helen Whately, writing on LinkedIn, May 2026.

Lord Blunkett, Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Education and Home Office

Lord David Blunkett was awarded a peerage in 2015 following 28 years of public service. He was the MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough from 1987-2015 and served for eight years in the Cabinet under Tony Blair as Education and Employment Secretary, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions respectively. 

Lord Blunkett has continued to work on vital policy and, alongside a council of Skills Advisors, produced a major report on Learning and skills for economic recovery, social cohesion and a more equal Britain. Lord Blunkett currently chairs the University of Law, is Professor Emeritus in Politics and Practice at the University of Sheffield, and is involved with numerous charitable organisations. He also chairs the Heathrow Local Growth Taskforce and is currently a skills advisor to the Lower Thames Crossing – a major infrastructure project being overseen by National Highways. 

At the Symposium Lord Blunkett will be discussing how the reviews currently being led by Alan Milburn, into NEETs, and Stephen Timms, into Personal Independence Payments (PIP), could form the foundation of profound change in the future. 

“We have a unique moment to invest both in Britain’s future prosperity and those taking the first step on the ladder to self-reliance.” –  Lord Blunkett writing in the Mirror, May 2026. 

What to expect from our panels:

Pathways for NEETs 

Exploring different routes to sustained education or employment across Further Education, apprenticeships, Technical and Vocational levels and how to assess their effectiveness, with:

• Alun Francis OBE – Chair, Social Mobility Commission
• Nick Bent MBE – CEO, upReach
• Charlotte McGrath – CEO, Movement to Work
• Sharon Blyfield OBE – Head of Early Careers, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB
• Craig Beaumont OBE – Executive Director, Federation of Small Businesses
• Lauren Domfe – Founder of Bear the Brunt

Place-based approaches

Exploring how more regionalised approaches can support young people into work or education and the vital role local authorities can play, with:

• Rob Wilson – Deputy Chair, Social Mobility Commission
• Baroness Stedman-Scott – Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions
• Anna Dawe – Principal & CEO, Wigan & Leigh College
• Nishi Mayor – Director of Employer Engagement & Partnerships, Youth Futures Foundation
• Paul O’Neill – Development Director, Steve Morgan Foundation

Welfare policies and how these currently influence NEETs

Exploring current welfare policies across Universal Credit, conditionality and sanctions, and the interrelation with pathways into work or education, with:

• Resham Kotecha – Deputy Chair, Social Mobility Commission
• Ryan Wain – Executive Director of Politics, Tony Blair Institute
• Dr Annie Irvine – Qualitative social researcher and Lecturer in Social Policy, University of York
• Robert Halfon – Executive Director, Make UK and Former Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships & HE
• Laura-Jane Rawlings – CEO, Youth Employment UK
• Peter Swallow MP – Chair of the APPG on Social Mobility

Breaking down barriers for economically inactive NEETs

Exploring the barriers affecting NEETs that are economically inactive, which is currently  around 60% of NEETs, and how these barriers can be removed, with:

• Tina Stowell – Commissioner, Social Mobility Commission
• Naomi Clayton – CEO, Institute for Employment Studies
• Laura Savage – Partner Services and Social Value Solutions Director, People Plus
• Joanna Hofman – Director of Research and Evaluation, IPSOS
• Fraser Nelson – Political journalist and former editor of the Spectator Magazine

Keep updated on the day

While the event is sold out for in-person attendees, you can see updates throughout the day by following out our social media channels: X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram and joining the conversation with #SocialMobilitySymposium. 

You can also watch livestreams of the keynote speeches here.  

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