Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Willetts (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 12 November 2009 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Apprenticeships

Question: If the Minister is so keen on apprenticeships, will he explain to the House why, in the leaked document that I have before me, he proposes cuts to the funding of apprenticeships, and why he is doing so little to help apprentices who are losing their jobs during the recession? Why does he not adopt our policy of a clearing house to help apprentices who lose their jobs to find new employers? If he will not do that, why does he not ask Lord Sugar to take that on? That might be a better use of Lord Sugar's time than denouncing Britain's hard-working small businesses, which is all that he seems to do at the moment. Or is it a case of "Lord Sugar, you're fired"?

Answer: The hon. Gentleman raises a number of issues. Of course, the so-called secret document to which he refers confirmed savings announced in the Budget. It just goes to show that if one wants to keep something secret, one should announce it in the House of Commons. Those figures were no secret to anybody in the further education sector. It was not a secret document, and of course it did not propose a cut in apprenticeship numbers. We are confident that we can maintain the numbers by reducing unit cost. I thought that the hon. Gentleman would welcome greater efficiency.

Secondary information