Trades and Apprenticeships

Harriett Baldwin Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

It is a great honour to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Betts. I congratulate the hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) on securing this important debate. I must start by declaring an interest: I am married to someone who did a BT apprenticeship back in the day, and he always talks about how incredibly valuable that was as a way to learn after leaving school. So I did slightly bridle at the rather attacking political tone that I heard from the hon. Lady in her opening remarks, because if there is one thing that we have complete cross-party consensus about in this Parliament, it is about the value and importance of apprenticeship routes. We may occasionally differ on the means and the approach, but I think we would not differ in terms of the end and how important it is for our country and economy to have more people doing apprenticeships, because they offer a wonderful opportunity for young people to learn valuable skills on the job and earn a salary while they learn. As a nation, we need to ensure that school leavers and employers view an apprenticeship on equal terms with going to university.

I will point out some of the positive statistics from the last Government’s track record. Nearly 70% of occupations could be entered via an apprenticeship by the time the last Government left office. In 2009-10, there were fewer than half a million people participating in apprenticeships, but by 2023-24, there were more than 735,000 participating and training under the more rigorous industry design standards introduced in 2014. The 178,220 achievements reported for the 2023-24 academic year represented the highest number since the pandemic, in 2018-19. Between 2010 and 2024, the previous Government delivered 5.8 million apprenticeships, and passed legislation requiring children to be informed about technical education opportunities. It is crucial that the Government build on this legacy, and I am sure we will hear from the Minister on how they intend to do that.

According to the Liverpool School of Plastering, the UK will need to recruit more than 1 million tradespeople by 2033 to meet the demands of a growing population and the infrastructure requirements. The hon. Member for Portsmouth North highlighted some of the important roles in her constituency that would require that. The shortfall we have in this country is driven partly by an ageing workforce, but also, as the hon. Lady rightly highlighted, by negative perceptions of trades, and by demand outstripping supply. Some of the negative perceptions that young people have include seeing these jobs as being physically demanding, low paying, and lacking in career progression. That does not reflect the diverse and rewarding career paths that exist today in trades.

In the autumn Budget, we heard that the Chancellor is increasing the rate of pay for apprenticeships by some 18% up to £7.55 an hour. On top of that, the Government have raised employer national insurance contributions, and the threshold at which national insurance is paid has been lowered from £9,100 to £5,000 a year. It will be important to note how this cost squeeze will impact the number of apprenticeships that businesses are able to provide. We will follow and scrutinise that in the weeks and months to come.

I endorse what we have heard from so many Members this afternoon about the importance of apprenticeships, the incredible opportunities they offer to so many young people, the importance of issues such as transport, and the awareness and knowledge that both businesses and young people need to have. With that, I look forward to hearing from the Minister.