Regarding Dudley having the highest rate of young people not in education, employment or training (How Dudley became centre of UK’s youth jobs crisis, 8 November), this doesn’t surprise me, having taught for 24 years in the Black Country. The area has a large proportion of working‑class communities that value technical education, but the national curriculum makes little provision for this. Investment in technical education from an early age would equip these young people with the skills that would attract employers to the area.
Kartar Uppal
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
• In response to Bill Onwusah’s winter fuel payment query (Letters, 6 November), the Department for Work and Pensions calculates it based on your circumstances in the “qualifying week”, principally your age in September this year and if you were living in England or Wales, whereas your actual entitlement to the payment depends on your income in the 2025-26 tax year, which HMRC won’t know until April next year at the earliest.
Godfrey Keller
Department of economics, University of Oxford
