Apprenticeships Funding

Order. Let me give an early reminder that interventions should be brief.

Absolutely. Nissan might have decided to stay, but it may look again at the decision if apprentic...

I praise my right hon. Friend for his outstanding leadership on this vital issue. Apprenticeships...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I say to the Government, “Put your money where your mouth is ...

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing this debate. He has been pursuing this subject fo...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Services now account for 80% of this country’s economy. If we...

In my constituency, apprenticeships are booming. At the new Bridgwater and Taunton College, which...

I encourage the hon. Lady to get into the detail, because that may not be the picture after the c...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not. I ought to make some progress, because I am conscious that many Members wish to speak...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not at this stage.

I now turn to the disadvantage uplift—the additional funding to s...

In fact, the national picture is that the youth unemployment statistics are down to 13.7%, which ...

Unless the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that the figures I just quoted are wrong, we should not b...

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that vocational education is incredibly important for young...

I would rather not rely on PwC reports, if the hon. Lady will forgive me. I would rather rely on ...

Colleagues, Front-Bench speeches will begin at 10.30 am, which gives us 40 minutes for the eight ...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter, and also a real pleasure to follo...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Streeter. I congratulate my right hon...

As a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, I realise how important ap...

I said earlier that it is question of whether the apprenticeships are proper level 3 ones— high s...

The hon. Gentleman quite correctly anticipated that we are one speaker down, so each Member now h...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I also congratulate the right hon...

Is it not also true that there is a significant return for the taxpayer—especially when compared ...

I agree entirely. Apprenticeships are a fantastic investment in the economy but also a great inve...

I agree with much of what the hon. Gentleman has said. Does he agree with my suggestion in the Pu...

I am sympathetic to that idea. If someone goes down the academic route, they have the path laid o...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I congratulate the right hon. Mem...

I thank the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) for securing this debate. When we consider...

My hon. Friend is making a passionate case. I come from Somerset, which is not unlike Cornwall in...

That is a fantastic point. When I stood in the election and finally won, I met and worked with lo...

I call the one and only Jim Shannon.

10.16 am

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate, Mr Streeter. May I first thank the right hon. Member fo...

I congratulate the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) on securing this debate. Does the h...

I thank the hon. Lady for that important comment. The tourism sector can, should and must grow. O...

A point was made earlier about some schools perhaps looking at the content of skills and at keepi...

My hon. Friend always brings a wealth of knowledge to these debates and I thank him for his inter...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who always manages to ma...

rose—

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Certainly, but please do not fight over me.

Does the hon. Lady agree that under the Labour party under Tony Blair, every child was encouraged...

I cannot entirely agree with the hon. Lady, but over the years there has been a focus on degrees....

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I warmly congratulate my ri...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter.

I congratulate the right ho...

rose—

I am sorry, but I cannot give way because very little time remains.

More money will be spen...

Will the Minister give way?

I will not, because I only have a few minutes left to speak, and I think that the right hon. Gent...

On a point of order, Mr Streeter. The Minister is reliant on the new standards, which only just o...

That is not a point of order. The Minister may continue.

The right hon. Gentleman should check his statistics. There have been more than 4,000 starts on s...

It is disappointing that the Minister has said nothing about the rates of funding cuts. He has be...

Order. We must move on from this excellent debate to a debate on another interesting subject.

It is a pleasure to serve again under your chairmanship, Mr Streeter. I thank the right hon. Memb...