Milton Keynes becomes a champion of social mobility for young job seekers

Conservative Allan Rankine put forward a motion that Milton Keynes Council should become a Social Mobility Champion.

This week the motion was passed unanimously.

Now the council will strive to sign up local businesses to provide more work experiences, apprentices and opportunities, particularly to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

They will also partner with schools and colleges to offer quality careers advice, enrichment experiences and mentoring.

Allan said he was brought up in a low income community in Scotland that provided a good education but almost no direction on how to improve his prospects. He left school at 17 and was lucky to land a job as a Lab Assistant with a multi-national company that understood how to develop employees. He ended up giving advice to the CEO in London.

Allan said: “I passionately believe employers are key to tackling social mobility in Milton Keynes and helping to connect local young people up with the opportunities already on their doorstep.”

All three political parties on Milton Keynes Council - Labour, Lib Dems and Tories, voted for Councillor Rankine’s motion at the council meeting.