§ Tom CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policies are followed by his Department to encourage young people to enter apprenticeship schemes within the construction industry. [185339]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisChanges to the Apprenticeship programme recently announced will benefit all sectors including construction. We want to put in place a coherent ladder of high quality vocational opportunities responsive to the needs of young people, older workers and business. We intend to build a family of apprenticeship programmes to suit a variety of needs from aged 14 upwards. These will include: Young Apprenticeships for 14 to 16-year-olds, a pre-apprenticeship route within the existing Entry to Employment programme, Apprenticeships at NVQ Level 2, Advanced Apprenticeships at NVQ Level 3 and a strengthened progression route into higher education, including vocational Foundation Degrees.
In addition we have set up a new network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils to work with government to meet the skill needs of their sectors. Construction Skills—the SSC for construction—was licensed in September 2003. A key role for SSCs is to encourage take up of apprenticeship places by young people and others.
The number of new entrants to the sector rose by 4 per cent. between 2001/02 and 2002/03 and the construction sector is the second most popular Apprenticeship framework with over 23,000 young people in training. Construction was also the most popular sector for both young people and employers responding to the recent Apprenticeship marketing campaign.