Apprenticeships for every young person is realistic says government

In a report published in December 2008, MPs on the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee warned they had "grave doubts" about government proposals to introduce a statutory apprenticeship entitlement.

But today the government said in its response to the report that local authorities and the National Apprenticeship Service would have no problem providing sufficient apprenticeship places to meet the statutory entitlement.

The Select Committee also raised fears about how the entitlement could impact on the quality of apprenticeship provision in their December report.

But the government played down the concerns claiming that the statutory entitlement would not lead to a compromise in quality of provision.

Local authorities, apprenticeship brokerage services and the National Apprenticeship Service will work in regional teams to boost employer engagement, the government claimed.

The National Apprenticeship Service will take over responsibility for handling apprenticeships from the Learning and Skills Council in April 2009.

The statutory apprenticeship entitlement is part of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, which has its second reading in parliament on Monday 23 February.

The government will set out plans for delivering the statutory entitlement when the Bill reaches the Committee Stages.