Youth Unemployment Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Josh Fenton-Glynn
Main Page: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)Department Debates - View all Josh Fenton-Glynn's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 day, 9 hours ago)
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Pat McFadden
We do not propose restricting the hiring bonus by sector, though my hon. Friend will have heard me list in my statement the areas covered by the new apprenticeship units—areas such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicle charging, infrastructure, solar panel installation, welding and so on. As regards the new short apprenticeship units, there are some specific areas that we are putting forward first.
Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)
I welcome this announcement. It will make young people’s lives and futures better. Calder Valley is famous for its world-class specialist manufacturing, but in the UK, one third of manufacturers are over 60. Can my right hon. Friend please confirm that this policy announcement will help us bring in the new generation of skills that we need for our economy?
Pat McFadden
This package can make a big contribution towards that. As I have said, there are 50,000 vacancies in manufacturing in the UK today. That is partly because of the difficulty that people have in finding skilled workers. With today’s extra help for apprenticeships for young people, we can begin to change that. That is why it is such an important part of this package.