By Vivienne Russell
18 January 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing former health secretary Alan Milburn’s recommendations to improve social mobility.
Milburn’s Panel on Fair Access last year published Unleashing aspiration, which challenged the government to do more to ensure able and talented people from all backgrounds were able to succeed in professional careers, such as the civil service, law and medicine.
Such an aspiration called for widespread reform in schools, colleges, universities and the professions themselves, Milburn found.
Setting out his response to Milburn’s report today, Brown said: ‘We can’t be a truly aspirational society if some people are still denied the chance to get on, and although we have raised the glass ceiling we have to break it. That is why our priority will be to remove all the barriers that are holding people back.’
The government will implement the majority of Milburn’s 88 recommendations. These include structured assistance in secondary school for 130,000 young people from low-income backgrounds and a new Social Mobility Commission to provide expert evidence on mobility trends and policy.
Business minister Pat McFadden said improving social mobility was a ‘great cause’.
‘This isn’t about class war,’ he said. ‘This is about opening up opportunity to the broad majority in Britain, to ensure that those who have the ability also get the chance to do the kinds of professional jobs which are going to grow in number in future years.’
18 January 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing former health secretary Alan Milburn’s recommendations to improve social mobility.
Milburn’s Panel on Fair Access last year published Unleashing aspiration, which challenged the government to do more to ensure able and talented people from all backgrounds were able to succeed in professional careers, such as the civil service, law and medicine.
Such an aspiration called for widespread reform in schools, colleges, universities and the professions themselves, Milburn found.
Setting out his response to Milburn’s report today, Brown said: ‘We can’t be a truly aspirational society if some people are still denied the chance to get on, and although we have raised the glass ceiling we have to break it. That is why our priority will be to remove all the barriers that are holding people back.’
The government will implement the majority of Milburn’s 88 recommendations. These include structured assistance in secondary school for 130,000 young people from low-income backgrounds and a new Social Mobility Commission to provide expert evidence on mobility trends and policy.
Business minister Pat McFadden said improving social mobility was a ‘great cause’.
‘This isn’t about class war,’ he said. ‘This is about opening up opportunity to the broad majority in Britain, to ensure that those who have the ability also get the chance to do the kinds of professional jobs which are going to grow in number in future years.’
