Thu, 14 May 2009
Additional funding for apprenticeship training is set to
be announced by Gordon Brown during his visit to Derby.
Prime minister Gordon Brown is expected to confirm an extra £140 million in funding for apprenticeship schemes in England later today (January 7th).
The additional investment, which will pay for an extra 35,000 apprenticeships in 2009 and 2010, is part of the government's plan to improve the provision of training for young people in response to the economic downturn.
According to the BBC, Mr Brown will reveal details of the initiative during a visit to the Rolls-Royce manufacturing plant in Derby this afternoon.
In previous recessions employers have tended to cut back on apprenticeships, but skills secretary John Denham told the news provider: "Now more than ever it is important that we give people the real help they need to get and keep jobs."
He described the extra funding for apprenticeships as "a further signal of our determination to give people the chance to get the practical training they need to get on".
Mr Denham also said that increasing the number of people on apprenticeship schemes will "help ensure the country has the skilled workers it needs to benefit from the upturn".
The government believes that boosting the skills of the workforce will play a crucial role in creating new job opportunities and helping the country to recover from the economic crisis.
Ministers are working towards a target of training 400,000 apprentices a year by 2020, with today's announcement set to push the total number of people in government-subsidised apprenticeships over 250,000.
Rolls-Royce is one of the companies which has agreed to offer the apprenticeships, while major employers such as Tesco and J Sainsbury will also be involved in the scheme.
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