Apprenticeships Bill (Draft)

Today, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls) and I publish the draft Apprenticeships Bill. In January 2008, World Class Apprenticeships set out plans for achieving our aspirations for the apprenticeships programme. This draft Bill sets out the legislative framework needed to underpin our strategy to increase the number of apprenticeship places and strengthen apprenticeships in England. Our ambition is that apprenticeships are seen as a key route to the best jobs, the best careers and the best chance to get on in life. Apprenticeships are at the heart of our strategy to raise the age of participation in education or training for all young people, with high quality vocational training clearly recognised as a mainstream route for young people. Apprenticeships will also help build a workforce fit for the future by providing better and more relevant skills to enable us to compete in the global economy. Since 1997, we have substantially increased investment in apprenticeships, and the number of starts has increased from 65,000 in 1996-97 to 180,000 in 2006-07. This increase has been accompanied by a steady improvement in the number of people completing apprenticeships, from 40,000 in 2001-02 to 112,000 in 2006-07. We want to build on this success. We want a significant increase in the number of places so that by 2013 we can ensure that there is an apprenticeship place for every suitably qualified young person who wants one. We want to strengthen the programme so that we can ensure that all apprenticeships are of a uniformly high quality. Following pre-legislative scrutiny and the consultation we are launching today, the provisions in the draft Bill will form part of the Education and Skills Bill we will introduce in the next Session. Copies of the draft Apprenticeships Bill will be made available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper office.