Press Release: Denham should have admitted to Labour’s failures
In response to John Denham’s speech to the Labour Party Conference today, Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary David Willetts, said:
“Instead of spin, John Denham should have admitted to Labour’s failures. Under this Government, there are more young people not in education, employment or training, fewer young men going to university and fewer Advanced Apprenticeships. We must do more to help people get on their way in life.
“We have proposed a positive alternative. We will fund more apprenticeship places. We will tackle the NEETs problem and the decline in adult learning through new dedicated funds. And we will massively improve the information available to young people so that they know more about their options.
“Labour minsters are letting our country down. We are offering a real alternative to Labour’s failed policies.”
Notes to Editors
1. The Conservative Party’s Skills Green Paper, launched by David Cameron in July 2008, proposed:
• 100,000 new apprenticeship places each year
• fairer funding for older apprentices
• a £2,000 bonus for each apprentice place at an SME
• a £100 million NEETs fund
• a £100 million Community Learning Fund for adult learning
• more autonomy for FE Colleges
2. Since 1997, the number of young people not in education, employment or training has risen from 1.1m to 1.3m (Labour Market Statistics). The proportion of men going to university has declined from 37.1% to 34.8% since 1999/00 (Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills). And the number of Advanced Apprenticeships (Level 3) has declined from 130,000 in 1999/00 to 97,000 in 2006/07 (Learning and Skills Council).
ENDS