LABOUR’S Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP visited WMG Degree Apprenticeships Centre at the University of Warwick to mark National Apprenticeships Week.
Mrs Phillipson met with apprentices and staff for a tour of the centre, before a roundtable discussion with local employers from WMG and the Federation of Small Businesses.
They discussed plans to ensure young people leaving education were ready for work and ready for life with the skills the country needs to prosper.
Mrs Phillipson said: “I visited the centre to find out about all the amazing work it is doing to support young people into apprenticeships.
“It’s also clear we need to see a lot more apprenticeships start in order to allow businesses in the region to expand and to grow.
“Within the last decade, nationally we’ve seen 200,000 fewer apprenticeships start in that time.”
Mrs Phillipson said it was clear from the discussions she had with the young people at the centre that there also needed to be better career guidance in schools.
“Young people need to be more aware of the opportunities that are available to them.
“Most importantly, we need to see more apprenticeship starts created.”
She said Labour was pushing the Government to do a lot more for the country’s young people, including a plan to create 100,000 more apprentices using funding already sat in in the department.
“There is money there to be spent and we know that young people want that opportunity.”
