TUC Welcomes Guarantee For Young Unemployed

Commenting on the Government’s Jobs White Paper published yesterday (Tuesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, “The new better off in work guarantee shows the Government has recognised that some people moving off benefits into very low paid work do not bring home any more money. They are right to try to correct this.

‘The promise of 100,000 new jobs, apprenticeships and training places is good news for nearly one million young people at risk of long-term unemployment.

‘In the 1980s, young people who lost their jobs were left on the scrapheap, and over two million of them were unable to find work even after the recession had ended. Today’s commitment shows that the Government has learnt those lessons and is taking this jobs crisis seriously.

‘With long-term unemployment still going up rapidly, making the Youth Guarantee available after six months is also a welcome and necessary investment.

‘However, the Government must continue to offer job and training guarantees to all those at risk of lengthy periods of joblessness.”

Link Up To Close Soft Skills Gap

Employers should work with schools and colleges to help close the “soft skills gap” according to the communications firm BT. A report on the Personnel Today website quotes Mike Rake, BT Group chairman as saying:

“We can’t afford to educate our young people without giving them the personal, management and communication skills they need to be effective in the workplace. It is vital that business, education and government find ways to work together.”

Denham Pledge on Apprenticeships

Skills Secretary John Denham today pledged to help apprentices go to university, and to ensure higher education meets the needs of students who have come up through a vocational route.

Welcoming Progression into Apprenticeships, a  Skills Commission’s report published today, Mr Denham said:

“Apprenticeships are valuable in their own right, but I believe there should be clear progression routes for young people and adults who complete their apprenticeships and want to go further – whether that’s onto an advanced apprenticeship, a diploma or a foundation degree and beyond.

“Alongside this, I want universities to offer high-level vocational courses to meet the needs of students who have come up through vocational routes. Vocational routes to higher education are important. But it is also important that vocational training should continue to higher levels.

“Demand for apprenticeships far outstrips supply and they’re proving increasingly popular with young people and adults alike. More and more people will reach the threshold of university education through vocational routes, such as apprenticeships. Our education system must be able accommodate those people and help them gain higher levels of skills and qualifications.”

The Government affirmed its commitment to incorporating Apprenticeship frameworks into the UCAS tariff to make it simpler to go to university after an apprenticeship in its New Opportunities white paper, published in January.

Currently, apprentices can progress onto a foundation degree. Foundation degrees are rising in popularity: 72,000 students studied for one in 2007/08 and the Government has a target of 100,000 enrolments by 2010.

Over the coming months, ministers will be considering a fresh form of vocational degree which would benefit learners and employers alike. Vocational degrees could help more people get the high-level skills they need to pursue a rewarding career and could address particular skills gaps in industry.

The Skills Commission report published today also recommends clearer mapping between diplomas and apprenticeships, so that people studying diplomas know precisely when and where they have acquired a qualification that is also part of an apprenticeship and what further qualifications they would need to complete the apprenticeship.

Mr Denham reaffirmed that young people completing a diploma would have clear progression routes into apprenticeships, and that, from 2013, learners in England will have entitlements to both apprenticeships and diplomas.

Mr Denham said:

“We are making good progress on supporting progression from diplomas to apprenticeships. We will make sure the links between apprenticeships and diplomas are clear and understandable to learners and their parents, as well as to employers and apprenticeship training providers.”

The Skills Commission report also called for a clearer definition of programme-led apprenticeships, courses which involve an apprentice studying full time at a college or training provider without necessarily having an employer.

DIUS and DSCF will respond in full to each of the Skills Commission’s recommendations in the summer.