24 June 2010

Apprenticeships are a vital route for young people into the world of work. They are more important than ever at a time when young people are finding it difficult to find full time jobs. However, it's clear that more needs to be done to help employers develop such schemes.

In particular I think more can be done to help small businesses. If we want to grow the number of meaningful apprenticeships, small businesses are the obvious sector to target. But we all know that they have difficulties in dealing with apprenticeships. When I talk to small employers, they tell me that they need help in developing apprenticeships; they need help with the basic training and assessment.

I recently spoke in Parliament on the subject and challenged the Minister to tell us how the Government plans to help small businesses get involved. You can read the debate here.