Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
10:43 am
Keith Marshall: That is the element that concerns us. An apprenticeship is not an apprenticeship unless it includes learning in the workplace on the job, and you can do that only if you have employers. Although I understand that we need to think about coming out of the recession, with the way that the economy is going and the challenges there, the biggest challenge in the commitment is ensuring that there are enough employers, and in that I return to the issue that has just been spoken about and our real fear that, to hit the targets, quality will be lowered. For us, the maintenance of apprenticeships as a high-standard, valued programme and qualification is absolutely key. We would rather see redefined targets, but maintained quality.