The move is designed to boost economic growth and ensure that, going forward, the UK workforce has the skills that businesses require.
In the New Year employers will be invited to bid for a share of the new GB pound 250 million Government fund. It will route public investment directly to employers – enabling them to invest in the training they need.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I know times are tough, especially for young people who are trying to get their foot in the door and launch their career. That’s why I’m determined to do all that we can to give people the very best skills, training and opportunities to succeed; and why despite tough spending decisions we are investing in record numbers of apprenticeships.”
The Prime Minister went on to state: “We’re seeing an incredible take-up of these apprenticeship places. I want that to continue, which is why we are taking action to make it easier to take on apprentices. Now we are giving employers the power to take control of the training so that it best meets the skills they need.”
The coalition Government’s leader is hopeful this radical new approach will encourage even more employers to take on apprentices and ensure that the UK workforce has the skills needed to help boost growth.
The vision of greater employer ownership has been championed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), a Non-Departmental Public Body that provides strategic leadership on skills and employment issues.
The Government expects to issue a formal prospectus on the fund jointly with UKCES early in 2012 so that projects can begin later in the year.
Today’s announcements are part of the Government’s growth review. Building on the programme of reforms set out in the first Plan for Growth, the next stage of the review is focusing on education and skills, infrastructure, logistics, mid-sized businesses, the rural economy and open data.
More details and actions are scheduled to be announced later this month.
Response to Government’s move from the CBI
Susan Anderson, the CBI’s director for education and skills, responded: “At a time of record high youth unemployment, the introduction of a GB pound 1,500 incentive payment to small companies which take on young people is welcome news, but this should go further to include employers of any size. We’re calling on the Government to introduce a Young Britain Credit which would encourage both small and medium-sized firms to recruit young Britons and support training of young people in larger firms.”
Anderson continued: “At the same time, the Government must reduce the bureaucracy around taking on these new employees, especially regarding audit, inspection and data collection so that the incentive payment does not get eaten up by these costs.”
In conclusion, Anderson explained: “Young people who fail to reach a good level in English and mathematics by age 16 need a variety of fresh approaches to help them get there, including more practical literacy and numeracy training which could be supported by apprenticeships. We need to ensure they’re not subjected to more of the same when a school-based approach has failed in the past.”
Brand new careers in the security sector
Thanks to the 100 in 100 campaign, 155 talented young people have now been provided with a brand new career in the security industry.
The success of the initiative was announced at the Security Excellence Awards Ceremony in October by one of its co-founders, CSL DualCom’s commercial director Simon Banks, during the Engineers of Tomorrow presentation prior to dinner.
Speaking about the campaign – which was launched at IFSEC in May with the aim of placing 100 new apprentices across the security sector in 100 days – Banks told 100 in 100’s official media partner SMT Online: “The idea for the initiative came about at a meeting between myself and David Greer, the chief executive of Skills for Security. I’ve always been an advocate of apprenticeships, and the partnership between CSL DualCom and Skills for Security provided the perfect vehicle to achieve such a goal because of the complementary nature of our own industry links and Skills’ contacts in the educational sphere.”
Banks – whose company sponsored the first prize (more of which anon) of two cheques for GB pound 500 in this year’s Engineers of Tomorrow competition – added: “We never imagined we’d over-achieve and are very proud to be part of such a groundbreaking project. Let’s not forget that this achievement wouldn’t have been possible were it not for the investment of the 80 companies who recruited those 155 apprentices between them.”
New business growth package for SMEs
The Prime Minister has also announced a business growth package to help Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) create jobs, export to new markets, secure finance and cut red tape.
Measures include a GB pound 95 million investment from the Regional Growth Fund to benefit hundreds of small businesses. This funding will support those SMEs considering investment in new capital assets and is expected to create at least 4,000 jobs while also unlocking around GB pound 500 million of new investment.
Speaking at the Exporting for Growth Conference in central London today, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “British SMEs are already doing incredible things, but we urgently need more of them to follow that boldness. We need this to be a country where more people think ‘I can start my own business and I can sell to the world’.”
He continued: “Our determination is to come through these difficult times stronger, to trade our way towards growth and jobs. We need to show real optimism about the future, and we need to show real aggression about pursuing Britain’s interests in the world. The markets are there to be tapped. The deals are there to be done. The opportunities are there to be capitalised on. Now, together, we must seize them.”
The Prime Minister recently visited two enterprise hubs in East London’s Tech City – the White Bear Yard and the Trampery.
Tech City is the fastest growing technology cluster in Europe with more than 600 businesses under its umbrella (up from 200 this time last year).
To mark this impressive growth rate, David Cameron has launched an online Tech City Map which shows the number of businesses in the area and how their data is positively influencing social networks.
The Tech City Investment Organisation was created in March 2011 and is designed to help the existing cluster of tech and creative companies flourish. For more information on what’s been happening vist Tech City
