We have just had Apprenticeship Week, which celebrated the achievements of apprentices.  With Valentines Day this week, this is something I love to write about as helping people to fulfil their potential is a core belief for Conservatives and we’ve seen great progress.         

Since 2010, our Conservative Government have created a world-class apprenticeship system from the ground up and delivered over 5.7 million apprenticeships for young people.  This has played a vital role in growing the economy and will do for years to come.

Apprenticeships had made a hugely positive difference.  We must continue to ensure young people get the skills they need to secure the high-skilled jobs of today and tomorrow, creating a stronger workforce and a more prosperous economy.

The introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in 2017 has helped to create long-term sustainable funding for apprenticeships, giving employers more control to provide their employees with a range of training opportunities.  I welcome that the government are increasing investment in the apprenticeship system in England to £2.7 billion by 2024-25, up from £2.3billion in 2023-24 to support employers to utilise high-quality apprenticeships.

It’s worth noting that Labour would halve the number of apprenticeships, meaning many young people would miss out on key skills they need to succeed.  Labour would allow firms to spend up to 50% of their levy contributions on non-apprenticeship training, which would result in cutting the apprenticeship programme by £1.5 billion a year.

It is fantastic to see that in the previous financial year, 730 apprenticeships were started within Crawley, and that local businesses are being offered funding to train apprentices by West Sussex County Council.  This funding is possible because the county council is part of the apprenticeship levy fund scheme and as a large employer, they can transfer 25% of their own funding to other employers.

West Sussex County Council has invested a total of £1,240,453 of apprenticeship funding since 2017, when the apprenticeship levy was first introduced to support local businesses.  This funding has supported a total of 385 apprenticeships within West Sussex, growing our economy and supporting young people to learn skills.

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

14th February 2024