In praise of apprenticeships...

WEST Berkshire has many success stories.

Vodafone, the telecoms giant that set down its roots in Newbury.

The Greenham Business

Park that has turned a legendary airbase and protest site into a thriving commercial centre for some of our fastest-growing businesses, and the base for our treasured Greenham Trust.

That is why it was such a pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister here last week to show him another stellar example of a dynamic local company with a global reputation in motorsports: Xtrac.

Xtrac’s outstanding apprenticeship programme has seen 188 young people through the door, of whom almost 70 per cent have been retained into the business. The visit was an opportunity for the Prime Minister to visit its on-site Academy and hear the journey of young people who may start at 16 and go on to accomplish great things at Xtrac and beyond. Apprenticeships are one of the great success stories of this Government.

Since 2010 the Government has created a world-class system, delivering over 5.7 million apprenticeships covering 70 per cent of all occupations.

The week after visiting Xtrac, the Prime Minister announced that the Government was building on this record, by investing £60m to enable up to 20,000 more apprenticeships.

He told me this week that he had Xtrac in mind when made the announcement. Underpinned by this new investment, the Government will fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses from April 1, paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21. The Office for Students has also announced that 32 higher education providers across the country are set to benefit from the second wave of its Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund, totalling £14m.

This includes £90,910 for Newbury College to expand their degree apprenticeship opportunities.

One of the biggest missteps of the last Labour Government was to funnel so many students into university courses that offered them little in the way of meaningful career prospects and saddled them with debt.

Of course, universities are fantastic for the right students.

And it is significant that this Government has got a higher proportion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds into universities than ever before.

But they are academic settings that will benefit those with certain skills.

Nothing is more antiaspirational than thinking all children should pay thousands to go to universities that do nothing for their career prospects and be grateful for it.

Even today, the Labour Party’s apprenticeship offering would halve the overall number available and cut the budget spent by £1.5bn a year.

Rishi Sunak rightly said he would crack down on rip-off university degrees that leave young people with high levels of debt and low levels of employability.

Labour’s position is that this is “anti-aspirational”.

The right focus is to create pathways to employability and success.

I am proud of the many local businesses that train our young people and value both practical and academic pathways to success.

Apprenticeships are one of the great success stories of this Government