Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Josh MacAlister and Jerome Mayhew

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to support apprenticeships for young people.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)]

Under this Government, apprenticeship starts by young people are up. We are going further and investing an additional £1 billion to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships with the new foundation apprenticeships, and providing £2,000 for smaller employers when they hire young apprentices.

[Jerome Mayhew]

There is no correlation between what the Minister says and what is happening on the ground. In Broadland and Fakenham, in the last year the number of apprenticeships has dropped by 20%. It has not gone up; it has gone from 150, down to 120. If the Minister thinks that more apprenticeships are a good idea, why does he not sign up for 100,000 new ones, and support the Conservative new deal for young people?

[Josh MacAlister]

I think we should look at what people do, not what they say. This is a Government who are reversing the decline; apprenticeship starts by young people reduced by 40% under the previous Government. We are taking a range of steps, including supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and giving greater flexibility in the apprenticeship system, all to create an extra 50,000 opportunities for young people.