Member

Turning to Amendment 483A, I will say that the 2009 Act rightly concentrated on improving the supply of apprenticeships up to level 3 and no higher. So does this amendment; it aims only to reduce major disadvantage. Higher apprenticeships may be a good idea, but they are not what this proposal is about. What it is about is one of the greatest problems facing this country: the desperately low level of skill in our non-graduate workforce. The previous Labour Government had the courage to tackle this through making the clear commitment they made in 2009. We desperately need today’s Labour Government to make a similar commitment, and I believe that, if they did so, they would be cheered by millions of young people and their parents up and down the country. I beg to move.