Apprenticeships and Skills (Public Procurement Contracts) Bill

Debate between Barbara Keeley and Iain Wright

Friday 1st November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) for his passionate and compelling argument. I fully support the Bill and believe that we should give it a fair wind and take it to Committee. I hope that the Minister agrees.

It is vital that the British economy succeeds, thrives and grows. That success should be based not on making a fast buck, cutting corners, thinking of the short term or cutting employment rights and training opportunities in a race to the bottom, but on well-paid, secure and skilled jobs. That is how Britain can pay its way in the world in the 21st century—with an emphasis on a high-skilled, well trained work force. To help achieve that objective, we need a skills system that meets the needs of our country, our society, the economy, employers and young people. My hon. Friend’s Bill would provide that and be central to having a good, resilient, productive and efficient work force for the future.

My hon. Friend rightly said that in many ways, the previous Government helped to revalue apprenticeships. There were something like 65,000 apprenticeships when the Government came into office in 1997, and when we left office in 2010—I was the Minister responsible for apprenticeships at that time—there were 240,000. The current Government have carried on that good work to some extent, and I want one characteristic of apprenticeships to be that they transcend party politics and Parliaments and work in the long-term interests of what this country needs. It is clear that we need good, strong apprenticeships.

As my hon. Friend said, even in these financially straitened times, it makes common sense, economic sense and social sense, when both central and local government spend money—often billions of pounds—for skills and training opportunities to be provided when contracts are granted. He mentioned the 50:50 scheme in his constituency, which particularly interested me, and other hon. Members have mentioned similar schemes. My hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) said that 926 apprenticeships had been put in place through Liverpool city council, and we heard about other initiatives. In an excellent speech, my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) talked about what is going on in London. Of course, in programmes such as Crossrail, Building Schools for the Future and so on, Labour established the idea of procurement as a lever to bring in additional training opportunities.

There remains a huge issue to consider. Although the number of apprenticeships has gone up, I am particularly concerned about the statistics on under-19-year-olds. In 2011-12, there were 129,900 apprenticeship starts by those aged under 19, but that represented a 1.4% decrease year on year. There were 95,400 intermediate-level apprenticeship starts, which was a 2% decrease. We fail our young people if we do not get them a good first step on the career ladder, and we all know about the crisis of youth unemployment that this country still has. In the quarter June to August 2013, 958,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, making an unemployment rate of 20%—up by 0.1% on the previous quarter and 0.5% on the same period last year. The unemployment rate for 18 to 24-year-olds is 19.1%, but what really concerns me—it is linked with the decline in apprenticeship starts for under-19s—is that the unemployment rate for 16 to 17-year-olds is 36.3%. That should be a national scandal.

We are failing our young people and not giving them the employment and training opportunities they need. We will suffer the consequences of that for decades to come. If we do not get our 16 to 19-year-olds on to a career ladder and thinking about skills and training, and if they cannot get employment, the chances are that they will suffer low-paid, low-skilled jobs for the rest of their careers.

Not only will the careers of those people and the prospects for their families suffer for decades, but the long-term economic potential of the country and how we compete in the modern, fiercely competitive world, will be compromised. We need to address that. I suggest that ensuring we can link training opportunities and apprenticeship places with public procurement is an exceptional way to go.

[Barbara Keeley]

I want to tie in my hon. Friend’s point with the wage benefits of completing an advanced apprenticeship, which I have mentioned. Does he agree that, in areas such as Salford, where we have such a lot of long-term unemployment and unemployed young people, wage benefits are the important factor? If we can get people in to apprenticeships, particularly advanced apprenticeships, we can ensure that they can earn 22% more than similar young people.

[Mr Wright]

I am glad my hon. Friend has contributed to the debate. I know how much she is passionately committed to giving young people a chance, particularly with apprenticeships. I have fond memories of going to Salford as Minister with responsibility for apprenticeships. We had launched the apprenticeships grant for employers. I met a tree surgeons firm in her constituency—I do not know whether she remembers. It could not afford to take on a young person, but we provided a £2,500 grant. I thought it was to help to pay the wages of that young apprentice, but it provided the equipment to allow them to scale up the tree and do the work required. That small firm wanted to help to bring on young people and to ensure that it gave young people a chance, making a difference—as I recall, it took on a 17-year-old. The Bill can do exactly the same.

My hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish was right to highlight the importance of driving up quality. However, he also mentioned the need to expand opportunity. Often, we do not tell young people of the difference apprenticeships can make. People will be paid more over the lifetime of their career if they become apprentices. I am therefore baffled by the debate on clause 2, which is on the advertisement of work force vacancies. When there are opportunities, we should communicate them as much as possible. That is a no-brainer. Where better to do so than in the jobcentre? Clause 2 is essential. I want the Bill to pass on Second Reading, but, in Committee, we need to widen and expand it to ensure that schools, colleges, teachers and others are aware of apprenticeship opportunities.