Debate Lead Issues Briefings

Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and Accessible for All

We need to improve pricing structure, cleanliness, frequency, reliability and treatment of young people on public transport, including those in rural areas.

The following points highlight some of the key issues surrounding public transport as well as some of the current initiatives that are in place to tackle it. This should allow for a balanced view on whether this is a topic that would benefit most from the UK Youth Parliament’s focus.

  • We already have some of the most expensive train fares in the world, but each January they rise even further. Fares are set to rise by 24% by 2015.
  • According to a 2012 report by the Campaign for Better Transport, between 1997 and 2010 the price of public transport has steadily risen above the level of inflation.This report also found that cuts to financial support for bus services are likely to lead to steeper fare rises in the next few years.
  • . In one study, 18% of young people identified the costs of transport as a barrier or constraint to pursuing post-16 education or training, and a third of those who did not go onto post-16 learning said they would have done if they had had more money to cover transport costs.
  • The withdrawal of the Educational Maintenance Allowance has also created further difficulties for young people using public transport to get to college.
  • A number of local authorities or other agencies do offer young people support in meeting the costs of travel. However, this is not the case in all areas, and provision tends to vary within and between authorities. National statistics on concessionary fares can be unreliable. However, in 2008, a Department for Transport survey found that 79% of Travel Concession Authorities in England and Wales do not offer concessions to young people.
  • When there are concessionary fares on offer there is a great amount of discrepancy as to the age that these are offered to. This problem is likely to be amplified by the changing age for compulsory education.
  • A survey carried out by the British Youth Council found that over half of the young people surveyed had had a driver be rude to them on a public bus service.In the same BYC survey 60% of respondents said they felt unsafe using transport after dark.
  • As bus provision is not mandatory and 4 out of 5 bus services are run on a fully commercial basis the coverage of more rural locations is left to the discretion of the local council. With council budget cuts it is these rural routes that are most at risk.
  • There have already been some large regional advances in this area with North Yorkshire introducing the ‘Ride around for £1’ scheme and Kent’s ‘Kent Freedom Pass’ and ‘Kent 16+ Travel Card’ schemes.These regional successes may be indicative of an issue that would benefit from more local attention rather than national campaigns. This may also be true because of the problems faced by young people which vary greatly based on location, i.e. The problems faced by young people in large cities vary drastically from those faced by young people in rural areas.
  • The recent BYC Youth Select Committee on transport demonstrates that this is an issue that is already being acknowledged by government. The committee gave young people the chance to voice their thoughts and concerns about public transport to the relevant ministers and transport executives.
  • There are some specialised organisations that focus on the issue of public transport and have been having some successes. The Fair Fares Campaign carried out a protest at Waterloo Station in August which resulted in Transport Secretary Justine Greening responds saying she is asking the Treasury for money to keep fares down.

Many young people have to travel to get to work and often public transport is their only option. For many young people the prices of bus fares are so expensive that it can almost seem not worth working, as we spend all our wages on bus fare. BYC and UKYP have argued that to tackle the barrier of cost there needs to be concessions for under 18s on public transport, flat fares and a free recognised travel card introduced where young people can get the return ride free or the fare at half price. The argument that will be put forward by many, if not all, of the privately run transport firms is that it is not financially possible to make drastic improvements to the service without drastic fare price increases.

For Further Information please see:

  • National Foundation for Educational Research, 2008, Barriers to Participation in Education and Training -
  • Campaign for Better Transport, 2012, Fair Fares Now -
  • The Youth Select Committee on Transport -
  • Kent Freedom Pass, Kent 16+ Travel Card:
  • Ride Around for a £1:

Recent News Articles:

  • Funding bus routes:
  • Youth Select Committee:

Getting Ready for Work

The rate of youth unemployment is too high and young people need better education, skills development, apprenticeships and mentoring schemes to help equip them with the right tools to enter the employment market. Every school pupil should have the opportunity to participate in work experience, in an external working environment, for a minimum of one week in a field of their choice, as well as access to opportunities linking them to professionals to help inspire them to learn about different career choices.

The following points highlight some of the key issues surrounding youth unemployment as well as some of the current initiatives that are in place to tackle it. This should allow for a balanced view on whether this is a topic that would benefit most from the UK Youth Parliament’s focus.

  • Between the 1st quarter of 2011 and the 1st quarter of 2012 the number of 16-24 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) rose from 15.3% to 15.8% - which equates to a rise of over 300,000 more unemployed young people.
  • A recent report, chaired by David Miliband, found that poor qualifications, lack of soft employability skills, lack of understanding about the labour market, limited access to work experience, and ultimately poor labour market transition arrangements as important factors accounting for the unemployment issue with young people.
  • A study carried out by the Recruitment and Education Confederation (REC) found that there was an ‘attitude gap’ meaning that young people had not been appropriately advised on the types of jobs and remunerations that they could realistically expect.
  • Work experience introduces young people to the world of work and is a valuable and essential part of their education. At present there is no statutory obligation for schools to provide this, so opportunities vary greatly for young people.
  • Despite an overall rise in the number of apprenticeships being started in the UK, the majority of the increase is due to people over 25 years old undertaking them. Between 2009/10 – 2010/11 there were 84,800 new apprentices aged over 25 years which accounted for over 75% in the total increase.
  • Recent research with young people, carried out by the National Youth Agency (NYA) on behalf of the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has shown that volunteering could be the best way to help young people learn skills that will assist them in employment. There are also numerous organisations that give young people such an opportunity, many of which can be found here:
  • There are already some schemes in place such as Inspiring the Futurewhichis a new free initiative that will see employees from all sectors and professions volunteering to go into state secondary schools and colleges to talk about their jobs, careers, and the education routes they took. Nearly a third of all state secondary schools have already registered ahead of the launch.
  • Alongside this the government has announced the creation of the “Youth Contract” which brings together £1bn of funding for a number of schemes, up until 2015, to help get young people into work. The measures include providing 160,000 employers with a "wage incentive" of £2,275 to take on an unemployed 18-24 year-olds, 250,000 work experience placements and additional support from Jobcentre Plus.
  • This is not just an issue that is being addressed by the Government, however, and the Labour party are setting up an alliance of entrepreneurs, academics and trade unionists in an initiative to tackle youth unemployment in Britain's 10 worst-hit areas. The task force will include the global deputy chairman of accountancy giant KPMG to help create serious and viable plans to tackle the issue.
  • The Big Lottery Talent Match Fund has also made £100million available to finance youth jobs initiatives.

With rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or learning we need to address the causal factors. As pointed out by the report chaired by David Miliband this can be done by providing more work experience, improving young people’s knowledge of the labour market and teaching them the employability skills that they will require to transition from education to the work place. Although there are some schemes and initiatives in place is this enough to ensure that every young person has an equal opportunity to make a successful transition from education to work?

For further information please see:

  • Unemployment Figures:
  • Work Experience:
  • Youth Contract Scheme:
  • Talent Match Fund:

Recent News Articles:

  • Long-term Youth Unemployment has rocketed:
  • Youth-contract insufficient:
  • Labour Taskforce to tackle Unemployment:

Marriage for All

We believe that all people in the UK should have equal rights to marriage. We believe that same-sex marriage should be legal in the UK and should give equal rights and benefits attributed to marriage’s current legal status in society.

The following points highlight some of the key issues surrounding equal marriage as well as some of the current initiatives that are in place to tackle it. This should allow for a balanced view on whether this is a topic would benefit most from the UK Youth Parliament’s focus.

  • Since 2005 the UK has allowed same-sex couples to enter into civil-partnerships but still not into marriage.
  • Although there are differences between a marriage and a civil partnership, a couple who form a civil partnership have the same legal rights as a married couple.
  • As it currently stands, heterosexual couples cannot enter into a civil-partnership and this poses a different inequality question.
  • A survey carried out by Populas found that 65% of respondents were in support of equal rights to marry.
  • A survey by Stonewall found that 71% of respondents supported the government’s commitment to extend the legal form and name of civil marriage to same-sex couples.
  • Same-sex marriage has already been legalised in the:

Netherlands (2001), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), and in the USA in the states of Massachusetts (2003) and Connecticut (2008).

  • David Cameron has already pledged to legalise gay marriage by 2015. This is something that is supported by the majority of Labour and Lib Dem MP’s according to a poll by the Coalition for Equal Marriage.
  • Labour MP Chris Bryant has also announced that he will introduce a ten minute rule bill on equal marriage in the House of Commons which has been described as the “first shot” in the parliamentary battle for marriage equality.
  • Scotland is leading the way in the UK on this issue and is bringing a bill forward to the Scottish Parliament later this year to bring in the change.
  • This is an issue that the Scottish Youth Parliament has focused on and their ongoing ‘Love Equally’ campaign demonstrates their commitment to it. They have actioned this campaign in a number of different ways including a petition which was presented to the Scottish Parliament urging them to bring forward their consultation on the issue – something which has now happened.
  • Some opponents to equal marriage claim that the only remaining differences between marriage and a civil partnership are religious aspects and that the state should not interfere with matters of religion and faith.

Although the introduction of civil-partnerships is a positive first step towards equality in marriage it is only the first step. Despite many of the same legal rights as marriage being bestowed on a civil-partnership there are still disparities between the two; civil-partnerships cannot take place in a religious building, they cannot be called a marriage, the service may not contain any religious wording or iconography. As such, a union between a same sex couple is treated, and viewed, as different than that of mixed sex couples and it is this inequality that arguably needs addressing.

For further information please see:

  • Coalition for Equal Marriage:
  • Citizens Advice Bureau:
  • Populas Survey:
  • Legal Implications:
  • Love Equally:

Recent News Articles:

  • Labour MP Proposes Equal Marriage Bill:
  • Anti-Equal Marriage Rally:

An equal National Minimum Wage for all

We believe that paying young people a lower National Minimum Wage than their adult counterparts because they are younger is age discrimination, and this is unacceptable.

The following points highlight some of the key issues surrounding the national minimum wage as well as some of the current arguments in support of the existing system. This should allow for a balanced view on whether this is a topic would benefit most from the UK Youth Parliament’s focus.

  • The current minimum wages are as followed:
  • £6.19 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over
  • £4.98 - the 18-20 rate
  • £3.68 - the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
  • £2.65 - the apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship
  • Over the last 9 years the minimum wage for 16 – 17 year olds has risen by £0.68 (a 22.6% increase) whilst during the same time period their over 21 counterparts have seen a rise in their wages of £1.69 (a 37.6% increase).
  • Following a report from the Low Pay Commission (LPC) the government will raise the minimum wage for those aged 21 and over, but has frozen the pay for younger workers. This means the gap between what an employer can pay a 16 year old and someone over 21 continues to grow, regardless of whether they are carrying out the same job.
  • The living wage is calculated as the minimum amount of money someone would have to be paid in order to afford the basic costs of living in the UK. For London the figure is £8.30 whilst elsewhere in the UK it is calculated at £7.20. These figures are evidentially not reflected in the current minimum wage.
  • Although the minimum wage is not reflective of the living wage (calculated for London at around £8.30) raising the lower rates in line with the over 21 rate would be a significant step towards helping the 1 in 3 children who live in poverty in England (figures for SaveTheChildren)
  • Research into the ‘living wage’ demonstrates that by paying your staff a higher wage you are likely to see an increase in employee satisfaction as well as an increase in productivity. This is a sentiment reflected in a report produced by UNISON (See below for link to report). This would, logically, be equally true for increasing the lower tiers of the minimum wage.
  • Research by the London School of Economics found that a rise in the minimum wage would not necessarily equate to job losses but instead the price of products could and is raised to accommodate this extra cost.
  • Not everyone agrees that an increase in the cost of products or services to accommodate a higher minimum wage is in our long term best interests. Many argue that we need to consider our business activities in a wider context and that a higher minimum wage makes us less competitive with countries that can produce goods and services at a lower cost.
  • Although the tiered system and wage freeze for younger workers may seem an unequal approach many supporters, including the recommendations from the LPC report, argue that this has been done so as not to impede job creation and price less skilled and experienced workers out of the job market all together.
  • The freeze in the lower end minimum wages is also supported by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development and the department for Business, Innovation and Skills. They argue that although there has not been a huge impact on the unemployment rates of adults caused by a rise in the minimum wage, that young workers are much more vulnerable in the market place and likely to much worse affected by job cuts if their minimum wage is to be raised.

At present, young workers fall into one of three categories and all of these offer lower minimum wages than their adult counterparts. Supporters for the multi-tiered approach argue that it allows less experienced workers to complete in the job market and allows for businesses to create jobs which they are then able to fill with lower wage workers. Those who support a flat rate across all of the age groups feel that anything else is simply discrimination based on age and that this is unacceptable.