Oral Answers to Questions

Vikki Slade Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s support for British Beauty Week and join him in celebrating the local beauty and wellness businesses that are helping to drive growth and create opportunities for young people, particularly the two he has highlighted in his constituency. I encourage his local businesses to look at the incentives offered by not just the jobs component of the youth guarantee, but the youth jobs grant and the £2,000 payment to small and medium-sized enterprises that hire a young apprentice, all of which can support them in giving opportunities to young people in Weston-super-Mare and beyond.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

There has been a 30% reduction in the number of apprenticeships in the hair and beauty sector over the past five years, one reason being that the number of people employed has plummeted, with many people being forced into false self-employment due to increased costs. In addition, the number of providers working in the sector is at a critical level. My constituent Mike, who owns Mike Taylor Education with his wife Emily, told me of a young man travelling from Kent to Dorset every week to follow his level 2 barbering course, because there were no courses anywhere else. Will the Minister meet me and sector representatives to talk about how we could reverse this decline?

[Andrew Western]

Clearly, I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady. That sort of distance is unfortunate, and I am sorry if that is the experience of her constituent or, indeed, their apprentice. As I say, I am very happy to meet her to discuss it further.