UNITED KINGDOM — Marc Bolland has been appointed lead non-executive director at the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to advise on tackling youth unemployment following an interim report by former health secretary Alan Milburn warning that the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neets) could rise to 1.25 million by the 2030s without radical action. About 1 million young people in the UK currently fall into this category, representing 12.5% of the age group, compared with 5% in the Netherlands.

Bolland will advise Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden on how the government should respond to Milburn’s findings and will lead a summit of business leaders focused on youth employment. A central part of his role will involve collaborating with charities that support disabled young people to ensure they have access to training and employment opportunities. McFadden said Bolland’s appointment sent a “clear signal” that the government was “serious about tackling that challenge.”

An increasing number of young people are being ruled unfit to work due to health conditions including anxiety, depression, and neurodevelopmental conditions, according to Milburn’s report. The report also found that six in 10 young people have never held a job, up from four in 10 in 2005. Almost half of those who claim a health or disability benefit before age 24 remain unemployed or not in education a decade later.

Bolland, who served as chief executive of Marks & Spencer from 2010 to 2016 and previously led the supermarket Morrisons, founded the charity Movement to Work. The government said a collaboration with Movement to Work has helped more than 200,000 unemployed young people find jobs. Bolland said: “I know that working hand in hand with business to support young people gives them the best possible chance of success.” He added that he was “honoured and passionate” about working with the government.

The economic cost of youth unemployment in the UK is estimated at £125 billion. Currently, for every £25 the government spends on benefits for young people, it allocates just £1 to help them find work.