The Bishop of Chester asked a question on encouraging young people to enter the nursing and social care fields on 24th March 2026:
The Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, like other noble Peers, I warmly welcome this Statement. I notice an emphasis on technical skills in the Written Statement and the Statement the Minister has made. I declare an interest: I have been married to somebody who has been a professional social worker all her life. I am interested in what we are doing to encourage young people into the caring professions, be that youth work, nursing, educative support, or social care, because it seems to me that this serves not only their good but also the good of our society.
Baroness Sherlock (Lab): The right reverend Prelate makes a very important point. The Government have done quite a bit of work in different sectors. As I have said at the Dispatch Box before, we have done quite a bit of work in social care, looking at how we develop schemes, skills and sector-based work programmes to make sure young people can both be given the skills and also encouraged to go into the sector. This can be a really rich and rewarding career, as his wife has found out, and as I know from people who work in the sector. Initially, people may not immediately see it as an opportunity. Once they get in there, if it is a good fit and if it is right for them, it is astonishingly rewarding. They transform lives. To be given the opportunity not just to change their own life, but in doing so, to change the lives of other people, is wonderful. I therefore assure him that the Government will carry on supporting that.

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