Launched by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today, the manifesto, Clear plan, bold action, secure future, also outlines further details of the party’s flagship plan for a new National Service for 18-year-olds, which received a mixed reaction from young people and youth organisations when announced last month.
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If re-elected, the Conservatives will establish a Royal Commission, the first in a quarter of a century, to design a “modernised National Service” that offers young people the option of 25 days a year volunteering in their community, in roles such as a special constable or NHS first responder, or a year-long full-time paid placement in the armed forces or cyber defence.
This will be backed by £2.5 billion in the final year of the Parliament funded by “closing university courses in England with the worst outcomes for their students” and supported by a new National Service Act.
Responding to the plans, Ndidi Okezie, UK Youth chief executive officer, said: "We can get caught up in debating the specifics of mandatory participation or the merits of various programmes, but whether it is National Service, or NCS [National Citizen Service] year of service, or gap years, or internships, or apprenticeships, the reality is different things work for different people and that is okay.
“Many countries have successful National Service programmes, but they have built infrastructure around the experience, ensuring it is an integrated stage in a young person’s life. The core issue we face is the lack of sustained investment to supporting youth development."
On support for the care system, the manifesto pledges to create more places in children’s homes, maintaining support for kinship carers and expanding befriending and mentoring programmes for care leavers.
Support for families includes changing the child benefit system so that it is calculated on a household rather than individual basis and a pledge to establish family hubs in every local authority area in England.
However, Paul Carberry, chief executive of Action for Children, said the Conservatives’ plan to save £12bn by making welfare reforms “looks set to hugely impact disabled people and those with mental health conditions who face barriers to work, causing yet more needless hardship for families with children”.
The ban on mobile phone in schools – currently issued as guidance only – will be made statutory, with schools allocated funding to undertake that process.
While welcoming the rollout of family hubs, Matt Buttery, chief executive of Triple P UK and Ireland, said plans for tackling social media use underestimated the scale of the issue.
“We know the amount of time children are spending on digital devices is a pressing issue for parents across the UK so it’s right the Conservatives are focused on tackling this. Rather than just imposing a ban in schools, the Conservatives need to focus on providing parents with the tools to combat the issue in their own families,” he said.
On education, the Conservatives pledge to protect day-to-day schools spending in real terms per pupil, require all schools to provide two hours of PE each week and fund 60,000 more school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities through building 15 new free schools.
The party says it will create 100,000 more apprenticeships and introduce the Advanced British Standard, a new approach to 16-19 learning that “will build on the best of A Levels and T Levels”.
Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust, said: “The Conservatives’ manifesto is relatively light when it comes to education, given the scale of the challenges facing the sector. The ‘rip off degrees’ ban fails to acknowledge that university remains the surest route to social mobility for many. Rather than restricting young people’s choices, the next government should focus on providing high quality alternatives to higher education. Funding an extra 100,000 apprenticeships is therefore positive – we desperately need more high quality apprenticeship opportunities to meet demand and build the skills the country needs. But there is no plan to ensure these are accessible to the young people who would most benefit from them.”
The party reiterates pledges from the 2019 election manifesto to create a register of children not in school and to restrict advertising of unhealthy food products. It also vows to push ahead with plans to further restrict the sale of tobacco and vapes to young people.
