Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development COVID-19 and the youth labour market, published in December 2020; and what steps they are taking to raise awareness of traineeships.

This government recognises the challenges currently faced by young people looking to enter the labour market, as highlighted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s report. Through our Plan for Jobs, we are committed to providing young people with the tools they need to begin and progress in their careers and are supporting businesses across the country to meet their skills needs, now and in the future.

Apprenticeships will be more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow. We have extended the incentive payments for employers of up to £2000 for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25 until the end of March 2021. It is encouraging that employers continue to see the value apprentices can bring to their businesses; as of 1 December employers had claimed incentive payments for over 11,000 apprentices.

The Kickstart scheme is investing £2 billion to create hundreds of thousands of high quality 6 month work placements for eligible 16–24 year olds. We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support young people on Kickstart placements to progress to apprenticeships where this is right for them and their employers. To support this, we have ensured that employers taking on an apprentice who has previously been on the Kickstart scheme are eligible for the incentive payments.

In addition, we are working on the largest ever expansion of traineeships and have introduced £1000 incentive payments for employers who offer traineeship work placements to support this. We are taking a number of steps to raise awareness of traineeships among young people, employers, and providers. We have created a new online collection of free resources for schools including fact sheets, case studies and a guide for teachers. We are working with stakeholders, including the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, and youth focused organisations to raise awareness amongst providers and young people. We are also working with the National Careers Service and DWP to ensure that young people understand the different options available to them and are supported on the right path, and with major employers and sector bodies to develop new pipelines to apprenticeships opportunities.