Burnham to announce plan for 10,000 work experience placements for young people – UK politics live

Opening summary: Burnham to announce plan for 10,000 work experience placements for young peopleMorning, and welcome to our UK politics blog. Prime minister Andy Burnham is nipping to the shops this morning to announce a plan to get teenagers working, as the government seeks to tackle the “youth unemployment crisis”.Burnham will be in Sainsbury’s to welcome the supermarket’s plan to offer 10,000 work experience placements in deprived areas, focusing on communities with a high number of young people not in education, employment or training, otherwise called Neets.Here are the deets: from October, Sainsbury’s will offer work experience and skills sessions for young people from the age of 14 in England, Wales and Scotland. Running for a year, it is hoped the plan will “help young people build confidence, gain experience and get a foot in the door,” Burnham said.Prime minister Andy Burnham at No10 North in Manchester . Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian“I encourage more businesses across the country to do the same,” he added. “Access to opportunity and work experience shouldn’t depend on who you know, it should be within reach for every young person wherever they live – and that’s what I’m determined to deliver.”The prime minister is due to speak to the media from about 9am, but other headlines this morning may overshadow the press briefing.Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, announced the energy price cap will increase by 4% from October, meaning millions of households will face the highest energy charges in three years this winter. The Guardian’s energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose reported the following: double quotation markGas and electricity prices will rise by 4% from October under the new cap, months after climbing 13% at the start of July to take account of soaring global energy market prices caused by the war on Iran. Ofgem, said the new rate for about 22m households was equivalent to £1,723 a year for a typical household’s gas and electricity use, compared with the rise to £1,663 for the July to September period. As the bill rises in consecutive quarters the typical household will pay an extra £350 a year more than in 2024, when the Labour government came to power with a promise that it would cut bills by £300 a year by the end of the decade. Read the full report here:You can also follow our business live blog for the latest updates here.Key events12m agoBurnham calls on businesses to offer work experience opportunities for young people31m agoGovernment looking at 'fundamental reforms' to lower energy bills35m agoOpening summary: Burnham to announce plan for 10,000 work experience placements for young peopleBurnham said the UK’s support for Ukraine will not change, following reports that the head of the CIA had travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks.When asked by reporters whether Britons should be worried about possible Russian attacks on the UK, Burnham responded: “It’s a challenging situation when we look around the world right now.“But from what we’re doing, people need to be sure of this: We’re doing what we’ve done since the start of this conflict, which is to provide that back up support to Ukraine to be able to defend themselves, because they do need to do that.”He added: “I visited Ukraine to send a really clear message to the Ukrainian people that Britain isn’t changing course. We said we would support them. We are supporting them and that won’t change.”Prime minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday. Photograph: Ukrainian Presidency/SIPA/ShutterstockBurnham calls on businesses to offer work experience opportunities for young peoplePA has reported some remarks by the prime minister on his visit to Sainsbury’s this morning, where he is announcing his work experience plan.Andy Burnham said the UK needs more employers to step up and offer work experience opportunities for young people.“This is a really positive development today,” he said.He continued: double quotation markOne of the biggest British brands out there, Sainsbury’s, coming forward and saying 10,000 placements for young people, work placements, apprenticeships. This is exactly what we need. We need a national drive to challenge youth unemployment and give more opportunities for our young people, and I would ask other businesses to do the same. We have a huge challenge – too many young people are out of work – but it can be fixed. I think we need to fix the education system, which is what I’m doing as well, giving young people technical paths alongside the academic route. But then we need employers to step forward and offer those work placements too.” While we wait to hear from Andy Burnham, here is a report by my colleague Richard Partington from earlier this month on the Neet crisis, an issue that has risen up the government’s agenda:Government looking at 'fundamental reforms' to lower energy billsJulia KolleweMiatta Fahnbulleh, the energy sectary, said the government will explore “what more we can do” to help those struggling with high bills, via “fundamental reforms” including investment in renewable energy. double quotation markFamilies will be understandably concerned about the cost of energy bills this winter, which is being driven up by the Iran war. Energy is an everyday essential and it needs to be affordable for everyone, which is why we have cut VAT on electricity bills from October, to give families some breathing space. This has limited the rise in the price cap and follows the £150 in costs we removed from bills earlier this year, and we will keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills. The government is looking at “fundamental reforms” to drive down energy bills for good, the energy secretary said.Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh arrives at 10 Downing Street for prime minister Andy Burnham’s first cabinet meeting on 21 July. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesSpeaking to Sky News, Fahnbulleh said: double quotation markIf you look at energy bills, if you look at how much of a family’s finances it is taking up, it is far too expensive. So, whether that is short-term support that we’re providing to provide a bit of breathing space, which is what the government has done and will continue looking at that, or more fundamental reforms that we need to make to the energy market to drive down bills for good, we are absolutely determined to do that. She argued renewable energy investment is “absolutely critical” to breaking the link between high gas costs and bills.Fahbulleh also said she was “frustrated” global events had increased bills in the UK but would not be drawn on criticising Donald Trump for starting the war in Iran.For the latest updates, follow our business live blog here:Opening summary: Burnham to announce plan for 10,000 work experience placements for young peopleMorning, and welcome to our UK politics blog. Prime minister Andy Burnham is nipping to the shops this morning to announce a plan to get teenagers working, as the government seeks to tackle the “youth unemployment crisis”.Burnham will be in Sainsbury’s to welcome the supermarket’s plan to offer 10,000 work experience placements in deprived areas, focusing on communities with a high number of young people not in education, employment or training, otherwise called Neets.Here are the deets: from October, Sainsbury’s will offer work experience and skills sessions for young people from the age of 14 in England, Wales and Scotland. Running for a year, it is hoped the plan will “help young people build confidence, gain experience and get a foot in the door,” Burnham said.Prime minister Andy Burnham at No10 North in Manchester . Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian“I encourage more businesses across the country to do the same,” he added. “Access to opportunity and work experience shouldn’t depend on who you know, it should be within reach for every young person wherever they live – and that’s what I’m determined to deliver.”The prime minister is due to speak to the media from about 9am, but other headlines this morning may overshadow the press briefing.Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, announced the energy price cap will increase by 4% from October, meaning millions of households will face the highest energy charges in three years this winter. The Guardian’s energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose reported the following: double quotation markGas and electricity prices will rise by 4% from October under the new cap, months after climbing 13% at the start of July to take account of soaring global energy market prices caused by the war on Iran. Ofgem, said the new rate for about 22m households was equivalent to £1,723 a year for a typical household’s gas and electricity use, compared with the rise to £1,663 for the July to September period. As the bill rises in consecutive quarters the typical household will pay an extra £350 a year more than in 2024, when the Labour government came to power with a promise that it would cut bills by £300 a year by the end of the decade. Read the full report here:You can also follow our business live blog for the latest updates here.