Apprenticeships and youth unemployment in the East Midlands (Market Harborough Liberal Democrats)

Market Harborough Liberal Democrats <info@marketharboroughlibdems.org.uk>

Apprenticeships and youth unemployment in the East Midlands

November 28, 2011 6:36 PM

Harborough district councillor Phil Knowles has taken up the matter of the number of apprenticeships in Leicestershire and the wider East Midlands, along with concerns at the general level of youth unemployment, with the Department for Business Innovation & Skills at Westminster.

In a response to Cllr Knowles a spokesperson for the Department says:

"You've asked for some guidance on the total number of apprenticeships available in Leicestershire and in the East Midlands as a whole. Provisional data shows that the total number of Apprenticeship Programme starts for 2010/11, for Leicestershire was 5,530 and for the East Midlands as a whole was 39,380. This is the latest period for which data is available. This information is published in the supplementary tables of the quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 27th October 2011.

"You also raise the issue of youth unemployment more widely. Let me assure you that the Government understands your concerns and that we are very committed to supporting the employment needs of young people''

Now Phil is calling upon the government and all involved with the apprenticeship programme to maximise its effectiveness by taking absolutely every opportunity to promote and publicise it.

He says:

"Those who are close to the scheme automatically assume that everyone who needs to know about the scheme and who will benefit from it will know all about it. But is that really the case? We are told just what an important contribution this scheme can make to the future so efforts to ensure people know about it must be a priority."