Simon Kirby
Main Page: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)Department Debates - View all Simon Kirby's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 2 months ago)
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Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
6. What assessment he has made of the level of satisfaction of participants and businesses with the apprenticeship system.
Simon Kirby (Brighton, Kemptown) (Con)
10. What assessment he has made of the level of satisfaction of participants and businesses with the apprenticeship system.
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
The Department recently completed the biggest ever survey of apprentices and their employers, which revealed the best ever satisfaction rates. Overall, almost 90% of apprentices were satisfied with their training. Employer satisfaction is also high: 88% are satisfied with the relevance of their training, and 80% remain committed to offering places.
Vince Cable
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that we need to maintain quality standards. I have asked Doug Richard, an entrepreneur with a background in this area, to give careful consideration to the quality issues and how we can shape the apprenticeship programme around genuine skills training, particularly at skill level 3 and above.
A great deal is happening in the hospitality sector. For instance, Hilton recently offered 100 new apprenticeship places. The Department will shortly hold a round-table discussion about the sector, and apprenticeships will be an important element of that.
Simon Kirby
The number of apprenticeship starts in Brighton and Hove was up by 83% last year, with many digital media businesses taking that important first step. Does the Secretary of State agree that that the digital media sector is an important part of the apprenticeship scheme?
Vince Cable
Yes. Apprenticeships increasingly cover the service sector as well as the traditional manufacturing and construction sectors, and the digital sector is an important part of that. It depends on high technology and high skill levels, and as a result is absolutely crucial.