Westminster Life: "I am passionate about apprenticeships and widening opportunities for young people"

I am passionate about apprenticeships and widening opportunities for young people, writes Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes. So, it was a privilege to join apprentices, training providers and local employers at the awards at the Holiday Inn. Peterborough has a proud industrial heritage built on engineering, the railways and manufacturing. Backing decent apprenticeships is one way we can give better opportunities to the next generation and improve our local economy.

It was great to join big city names like Caterpillar, Baker Perkins and Compare the Market, alongside growing businesses like EML. Every award told the story of the nominees excelling in their learning, growing new skills and contributing to the success of their employer. In so many categories the winners and nominees were praised for being good team players and helping co-workers, as well as growing their own skills.

In too many ways we have overlooked the value and contribution of apprenticeships. The drive to expand university education has been positive yet too often has come at the expense of technical education. We need to rebalance that equation with apprenticeships being given the same attention as higher education. That is why one of Labour’s election pledges was to revamp careers guidance. We are going to start building them back up again, with dedicated careers teachers in schools to provide better support to students and to work with employers to showcase the best opportunities.

University is a great route for many people – both school leavers and many later returners – but it isn’t the only route to success. This week I visited staff at Marks and Spencer at Brotherhood Park to learn more about their careers opportunities. It was an opportunity to hear at first-hand how the company invests in training and apprenticeships. I got to meet staff who started on the shop floor but have now been given the opportunity to train for managerial, trading and head office jobs.

If we want Peterborough to flourish, we need to support better job opportunities for our young people. We have the talent in the city, we just need the system to work better at all levels. It is intolerable that the number of young people starting an apprenticeship has fallen by 70 per cent over the past decade, and that the number of local apprenticeships starts fell compared to a decade ago.

My drive to lift learning opportunities has led me to be elected as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships where I will be working with businesses and training providers to learn how can improve opportunities. We are lucky in Peterborough to have such dedicated education providers who understand the challenges, such as Peterborough College and ARU Peterborough. We need to build on their successes with better partnership between public and private sectors, and between business and government to ensure we can develop the best opportunities for the next generation.