David Willetts

Responding to Gordon Brown’s announcement of 35,000 ‘new’ apprenticeships, Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary, David Willetts said:

“We want to see more apprenticeships but it’s far from clear how many of those in this announcement are actually new.

“We announced plans last year to expand the number of apprenticeships by 100,000 by refocusing money from the Government’s current bureaucratic training scheme. Small and medium sized enterprises, the ones that are most at risk in the recession, would also get bonuses for taking on apprentices which would give them a further boost.

“If Gordon Brown really wants to help people in the recession, he should adopt our proposals to redirect wasteful spending which would provide tens of thousands more proper employee-led apprenticeships.”

Notes to Editors

· Brown promises today. As part of his regional tour, Brown announces an increase in apprenticeships, backed by £140 million. The scheme aims to increase the number of apprentices by 35,000 in 2009-10 (BBC News Online, 7 January 2009).

However, the reality is that the Government have already announced similar schemes before:

· Re-announcement 1: According to the DIUS press release, today’s announcement is the first time the Government has committed to spending over £1 billion on apprenticeships in 2009/10. In fact, the annual grant letter from the Government to the Learning and Skills Council, dated 18 November 2008, put annual spending on apprenticeships at £1,041,568 million in 2009/10 (DIUS, Letter to the LSC, 18 November 2008).

· Re-announcement 2: In last year’s Queen’s Speech, the Children, Skills and Learning Bills promised the creation of a National Apprenticeships Service and establishment of a statutory entitlement to apprenticeships for suitability qualified young people. This was itself announced in January 2008 with the Apprenticeships Review (DIUS Press Release, 28 January 2008).

· Re-announcement 3. Skills Secretary John Denham and Education Secretary Ed Balls called for more expansion in the public sector apprenticeship programme in October 2008, and again in December 2008. (DIUS Press Releases, 27 October 2008 and 8 December 2008). In their November 2008 letter to the LSC, ministers said they wanted 10,000 new apprenticeship starts and 11,000 new apprenticeship completions in 2009/10 (DIUS, Letter to the LSC, 18 November 2008).

And Labour’s past record on apprenticeships is woeful:

· Missed Targets: The Government has consistently missed its apprenticeship targets - for example, in 2003, Gordon Brown said there would be 320,000 apprenticeships by 2006 (Hansard, 9 April 2003, Col. 282). But in 2006-7 there were only 239,100 apprentices (Learning and Skills Council, First Release, 18 December 2007).

· Public sector apprenticeships: Figures obtained by David Willetts MP in a series of parliamentary questions to every Government Department showed that the number of public sector apprenticeships is currently just 6,000.

ENDS