Amanda Martin

Thank you for your chairmanship during this debate, Mr Betts. I thank everyone for their valuable contributions, and I welcome their research and insight into this topic. I will touch on a few points, if I may. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his Northern Ireland perspective and the questions he posed. However, I want to say that working in a trade is, and can be, a career for those academic kids, as well as those who would traditionally follow a vocational route. I met a wonderful young man at Springfield secondary school’s year 11 awards evening. He did very well in getting grade 9 in all his GCSEs, and had proudly taken up a carpentry apprenticeship. He was so passionate about the opportunity he had that it gave me goosebumps to have that conversation with him. We need to put lads like that at the forefront to say that this career path can be taken. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) for his promotion of the trade sector in his constituency and in this place, and for his solutions, ideas and passion to elevate the status of trades, which I echo. The hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) presented stark statistics, showing the difficulty that young people face in accessing training and a start to their careers. I can echo that it is difficult enough to find a tradesperson, as they are always busy, but try doing that when it is someone in your family and you become a love job—you definitely to go to the bottom of the list. My mum has had a dripping tap for over a decade, and I had a light in my front room—we call it “the big light”—that did not work for 18 months. So I know that it is even worse when it is a love job from your family. I want to make a few points in response to the shadow Minister. First, it is good that she made a commitment—obviously, she has her background with her husband—to apprenticeships and their value, because previous Government initiatives did not seem to do that. Levelling up did not work, with areas of affluence seeing more sign up to apprenticeships while deprived areas saw a drop. Also, the high-level apprenticeships did not work because there was a drop in the construction industry. I thank the Minister for her contribution and commitment to people working in the trade sector, be that businesses, apprentices or future apprentices, through the changes that we have started, identified and hope to continue. I would like her to take back to the Department some points from today’s debate. To achieve the ambitious growth in house building targets that I am pleased the Government are pursuing, we must upskill, and vocational education must be central to that across the country. Broadening the pool of apprenticeships not only solves an important part of the skills gap facing several sectors—notably construction—but it unlocks opportunities for young people and those who want a career change. We need more people to use the flexible apprenticeships that have been mentioned, and we need those to work for a diverse range of people. I was one of the first girls to take a GCSE in design and technology, which is why it has always been a big passion of mine. We need to look at what we are doing in our education system. We need a system that values all pathways equally, so that the young man from Springfield school is not unique in pushing himself into this career. We must celebrate and elevate this vital sector, showing young people, and those not so young wishing to change their career, the possibilities, the positivity and opportunities available. I thank everyone working in the sector who is doing that day in, day out. Apprenticeships can lead to successful businesses, higher wages and skills to be proud of, and I would like to see our education system and society placing vocational training at the heart of its ambition. As I have said, and continue to say, if someone cannot see it, they cannot do it. I am pleased that the Government recognise that and are beginning to unlock and make improvements immediately. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered public perceptions of trades and apprenticeship completion rates.