Conservative leader David Cameron has accused the government of being stuck in the past when it comes to skills training and has called for a "training and apprenticeship revolution."
During yesterday's announcement of the 'Building Skills, Transforming Lives' Green Paper, David Cameron told young and jobless people: "If you have got something to offer, then we will help you to shine," before adding that the reason over 750,000 young people are not in any kind of education, employment, or training, is down to the archaic attitude the government has to training.
Amongst the proposals set out in the Green Paper are calls for "a massive expansion" in real apprenticeships, with £775m set aside to support apprentices of all ages as well as an additional £100m fund to help young people not in education, employment or training. The Train to Gain initiative also came under fire with a call for "an end to the bureaucracy that shackles further education colleges" and more funding for careers advice services.
"For too long, Britain has been trapped in the mindset that opportunity must end at the school gates – that if you have not proved yourself by the age of 16 then you might as well join the scrapheap. We need to change our way of thinking radically. We need a revolution in skills and training so everyone has the opportunity to make the most of their lives," said Cameron.
Universities and Skills Secretary John Denham retorted by accusing the Tories of stealing the government’s ideas, calling the proposals "a disastrous mixture of cuts, waste and theft of government ideas."
"They have copied our ideas for reducing bureaucracy, freeing up FE Colleges and creating Group Training Associations but they have made proposals which will send apprenticeships back to the days when few people started them, fewer finished and public money was wasted," he said.
In response to the announcement, Susan Anderson, CBI Director of Skills and Education, stressed the importance of the Train to Gain initiative: "We are concerned by plans to divert money from the Train to Gain programme, as this is designed to ensure that public funds are invested in training that delivers improved business and workforce performance," she said.
