Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Melanie Onn and Peter Kyle(3 weeks, 4 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Peter Kyle
My hon. Friend makes a really important point. We have created a specific fund to support SMEs and young people to start up businesses. It is incredibly important that people from all backgrounds get to explore their entrepreneurial talents, and that is exactly what this Government are doing to make that happen.
Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle)
We are investing £720 million in the greater Lincolnshire investment fund over the next 30 years as part of our devolved funding and support for areas just like my hon. Friend’s.
Melanie Onn
News of apprenticeship incentives, the youth jobs grant and the jobs guarantee will provide a welcome boost for my brilliant young people in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, but they and other jobseekers will want to know what permanent jobs they can move into. We have huge opportunities and experience in new clean energy and the supply chain. What action is the Secretary of State taking to expand existing businesses and attract new investment in this sector to deliver jobs for my hard-working constituents?
Peter Kyle
My hon. Friend is right that her constituents are hard-working and they deserve to have a Government on their side: in this Government, they have that. We have invested £140 million in a pilot with the mayoral strategic authorities that will benefit her area. That will connect 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training to local apprenticeship opportunities in her area. We are also investing £2.5 billion in the youth guarantee and the growth and skills levy over the next three years. NEETs rose by 250,000 under the Tories and we are doing everything we can to get that down, including in her area by providing specialist advice via the Business Lincolnshire growth hub.