HS2 to provide major stimulus to Labour’s apprenticeship plans

LABOUR has pledged to guarantee every 18-year-old in England an apprenticeship provided they reach acceptable grades – should the party win the General Election.

The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, delivering a speech at Jaguar Land Rover’s £500m engine manufacturing centre at the i54 site near Wolverhampton, said party would aim to meet the target by the end of the next Parliament in 2020.

The pledge would involve creating around 80,000 new apprenticeships but the Labour leader said he was confident the target could be achieved and pointed to the impending HS2 high speed rail line as one of the main providers of the places.

The rider to the offer is that the 18-year-olds must have attained a certain academic standard in that they must have gained level 3 qualifications, which are the equivalent to having two A Levels. Those with two A-levels would also be considered but those with only GCSEs would not.

The scheme would be funded by companies bidding for public sector contracts having a minimum offer of two-year apprenticeships. Money would also be diverted from in-house training schemes.

Money will also be devoted to apprenticeships from funds earmarked for Labour’s Jobs Guarantee for young people who are unemployed for a year.

Mr Miliband said that of the 80,000 apprenticeships targeted, 33,000 alone would come from the £50bn rail scheme, with many being based in or around Birmingham, which will be the home of the National College for High Speed Rail.

The pledge was part of the Labour leader’s campaign ahead of the General Election to illustrate to business leaders that the party is capable of maintaining economic growth over the course of the next five years.

Mr Miliband’s argument is that only through proper training and skills development can industry become more productive.

It was telling that the Labour leader opted to deliver his speech at such a prestigious location and that he should be accompanied by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and several of his other front bench team.

During his visit to the West Midlands last week, the Prime Minister also opted to identify the automotive industry and HS2 as the likely engines for growth for the region over the next five years and beyond.

Mr Miliband was also at pains to point out that his party had a clear strategy on devolution, claiming Labour was the only party with a comprehensive, rather than piecemeal plan for the extension of devolved powers.

He said Labour would devolve power and funding worth £30bn over the five-year Parliament, channelling money in employment services, transport, housing, skills and business support.

He said it was only fair that England received the same consideration as Scotland Wales had.