Yesterday I wrote to Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education). In the letter I politely asked if he would commit to providing a Career Guidance Guarantee for everyone who needs it during what promises to be a very difficult period in the UK labour market. The letter builds on the emergency career development plan that I shared a couple of weeks ago.
If, it was just me signing this letter, I wouldn’t really expect much come back on it. But, as my signature was joined by over 800 individuals and the letter was supported by over 200 organisations from the education and careers world and beyond, I feel that this might be something that the government will want to pay attention to. We need to build even greater support to make sure that this happens (tweet your support).
You may have heard rumours that the government is going to find some new money for careers (and a range of other education and employment initiatives). I think that this is probably true, but the details are currently really vague. There is space to influence both what is funded and how much funding is made available. We originally called for £26 million during the next six months, followed by a long term plan (and funding) in the autumn. There is a desperate need for money now to deal with the crisis, but we also need to think about establishing a career guidance system that is fit for the future.
If you want to influence this discussion, today is the day. We are trying to maximise the number of individuals and organisations that support the Career Guidance Guarantee, by encouraging people to tweet at 10am. Something along the following lines would be great!
COVID-19 has impacted the labour market. With 800,000 young people leaving education in Sept we need to take action. 800+ orgs & individuals have written to @GavinWilliamson calling for a #CareerGuidanceGuarantee to avoid unnecessary unemployment. https://bit.ly/2Z4WF8F
Adventures in Career Development 
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