Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Wednesday, 1 July 2009 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: As more than 1 million of our young people leave education this summer, the Government's rediscovered commitment to training and apprenticeships is very welcome. However, it appears that many of the training schemes on offer cannot be completed in the time that the Government have announced. Will the Prime Minister meet a group of us to make sure that we do not consign our young people to unemployment or to a failure to gain the qualifications that they need?

Answer: As the hon. Gentleman should know, in 1997 there were 70,000 apprenticeships in Britain; this year, there are 225,000—three times as many. To say that we have reduced the number of apprenticeships, or that we are not taking the issue seriously, is wrong. As far as training programmes are concerned, on Monday we announced how we would do more for summer school leavers and for young people under 25. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support the new investment that we have made into those measures. They cost money; I hope that his party is prepared to support them, even if the Conservative party is not.

Secondary information