Alan Milburn, the former UK cabinet minister, has led a delegation to Dublin to study how Ireland has slashed its rate of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet), as he prepares an autumn report for the UK government on Britain's youth jobs crisis. More than a million young Britons are currently classed as Neet, and Milburn, accompanied by officials, charity leaders, industry figures and South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard, visited an Irish Rail apprentice training centre to understand what has driven Ireland's success, which he hopes can inform policy in the UK.

Ireland has achieved the fastest fall in Neet rates in the EU over the past decade, from 14.3% in 2015 to 6.1% last year, driven partly by its recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, when youth unemployment had peaked at almost 30%. By contrast, the UK's rate rose from 11.1% to 12.8% over the same period, among the worst in Europe alongside Romania. In Britain, Andy Burnham has prioritised the issue since becoming prime minister, launching technical education and apprenticeship measures, while Labour faces pressure over the £125bn annual cost of youth worklessness and criticism from business leaders over tax rises and other cost pressures they say have worsened the problem.