Clause 35
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill
1:45 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
Clause 35 specifies that careers advice in schools must give consideration to apprenticeships as an option, but fails to give any grounds on which such advice and guidance would be given. Furthermore, it makes no account of the fact that an apprenticeship is a specific programme of training, relevant to a specific occupation. Our amendment relates advice on apprenticeships to consideration on apprenticeships as a path to a particular option.
This is an important aspect of the Bill. It is widely acknowledged that, if we are going to grow the apprenticeship programme in the way that the Bill intends and the Opposition advocate—the whole House would acknowledge that we have been the champions of apprenticeships, certainly since I have been in my current job—