Finally, the only way to support significant numbers of young people to overcome the barriers they face, particularly around mental health, will be to foster genuine engagement & offer genuine opportunities. Reverting to compliance & cuts again would be a huge mistake /5

This means listening to young people directly & accounting for the whole range of social, emotional & economic factors that they have experienced

There are some welcome comments on this in McFadden's Times interview, including recognition that this is an "issue of inequality" /4

One thing I've learnt from frontline practice is that if you start from a position of assuming people are trying their best in the circumstances they're facing, you're much more likely to understand how they have ended up where they are & what might help them to progress /3

First & foremost, it mustn't start with lazy pre-conceptions about young people's character, motivation & honesty

Positive to see Pat McFadden's response to the question of 'overdiagnosis': "I don't want to play amateur doctor. I want to approach this with sensitivity." /2

The full @mind.org.uk report is available here: t.co/9Vf4fyNnD5

You can find the full analysis here by Health Equity North here: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

Full report here: www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-res...

Thanks Nicola. It all came from this paper last year that Lloyds Banks Foundation kindly funded! neweconomics.org/2024/08/bett...

The report contains a wealth of info about how we developed & delivered this proactive outreach

It's critical that DWP & local government fully explores the potential for improving voluntary engagement before considering mandatory appointments for this group 3/3 neweconomics.org/2025/08/incr...

With just one pass at reaching out to a cohort of 800 residents over a four week period, we were able to engage 10% with a support conversation, of which over 40% agreed to an onward referral to employment support. We identified many opportunities to improve on these numbers 2/3