26 November 2025
CDPG event in House of Lords highlights career development opportunities
On 25th November, the Career Development Policy Group (CDPG) sponsored an event in the House of Lords, by the All-Party parliamentary Group for Skills, Careers and Employment.
The event, hosted by Baroness Sue Garden of Frognal and chaired by Darren Paffey MP, explored the future of careers policy – the progress and priorities. The opening presentation by Clare Viney, Chief Executive of CRAC and chair of the CDPG set out the current policy landscape. Dr Chris Percy then shared his latest research on the value of careers guidance before Darren Paffey introduced the panel for their opening remarks.
First was a young person’s insight from Matthew, a sixth-former from Ruislip High, then Nicola Hall from the CEC, Richard Irwin from Barclays and Cath Possamai from Amazon.
The following discussion covered challenges in empowering young people through careers guidance in education, including the role of career development in addressing NEETs, the modern work experience approach by CEC, the need to ensure schools have sufficient levels of staffing in Careers Leader and Careers Adviser roles and the role of careers guidance higher education.
With regards to adult careers service, the discussion focused on the formation of the Jobs and Careers Service and ensuring a lifelong approach to careers guidance, including integration with other services such as the Lifelong Learning entitlement.
The event was attended by over forty parliamentarians, policy makers, employers and careers organisations in person, plus many more online. From the event, additional meetings with key politicians and civil servants are being explored to further discuss the challenges and opportunities for the sector.
The event was part of the CDPG’s ongoing work to raise the profile of career development in policy decision-making and work together across the profession to present clear positions on all aspects of careers policy for young people and adults. The CDI are key members of the CDPG and were pleased to be part of the organising team for the event.
The event, hosted by Baroness Sue Garden of Frognal and chaired by Darren Paffey MP, explored the future of careers policy – the progress and priorities. The opening presentation by Clare Viney, Chief Executive of CRAC and chair of the CDPG set out the current policy landscape. Dr Chris Percy then shared his latest research on the value of careers guidance before Darren Paffey introduced the panel for their opening remarks.
First was a young person’s insight from Matthew, a sixth-former from Ruislip High, then Nicola Hall from the CEC, Richard Irwin from Barclays and Cath Possamai from Amazon.
The following discussion covered challenges in empowering young people through careers guidance in education, including the role of career development in addressing NEETs, the modern work experience approach by CEC, the need to ensure schools have sufficient levels of staffing in Careers Leader and Careers Adviser roles and the role of careers guidance higher education.
With regards to adult careers service, the discussion focused on the formation of the Jobs and Careers Service and ensuring a lifelong approach to careers guidance, including integration with other services such as the Lifelong Learning entitlement.
The event was attended by over forty parliamentarians, policy makers, employers and careers organisations in person, plus many more online. From the event, additional meetings with key politicians and civil servants are being explored to further discuss the challenges and opportunities for the sector.
The event was part of the CDPG’s ongoing work to raise the profile of career development in policy decision-making and work together across the profession to present clear positions on all aspects of careers policy for young people and adults. The CDI are key members of the CDPG and were pleased to be part of the organising team for the event.
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