This National Apprenticeship Week, Ipswich Conservatives are recognising the vital contribution of apprentices here in Ipswich.
Since 2010 there have been 7320 apprenticeship starts in Ipswich, and over 1.2 million new apprenticeship starts nationally since 2015. Take up of higher-level apprenticeships in 2016-17 was up by nearly 35 per cent compared to 2015 -16 with 1080 in Ipswich alone when we had Ben Gummer as our MP for most of that period.
Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Conservative Government’s strategy to expand opportunity and develop the skilled workforce the country needs. This includes working with industry to deliver an ambitious target of 3 million new apprenticeship starts by 2020.
But we know there is still more to do, which is why we recently launched an education and funding review that will help people make more effective choices between the different options available to them, promoting parity of esteem between technical and academic pathways.
Commenting, Borough Conservative Group Deputy Leader, Eddy Phillips,said:
"Apprenticeships allow young people to earn while they learn, and open doors to highly skilled, rewarding careers. Our Government’s reforms are not only increasing apprenticeship numbers, but also driving up the quality of apprenticeships, meaning they have real value in our Ipswich jobs market.
"Only the Conservatives are working hard to ensure everyone can get on in life, and go as far as their talents and hard work can take them."