The Prime Minister opened Cabinet by restating the government’s
continued ambition to support business and drive economic growth.
He pointed to the first in a series of regulatory reform
announcements from the Business Secretary – focusing on how we
can improve the way we regulate, cut burdens on business, drive
economic growth, and reduce the cost of living.
The Business Secretary said the
Government was on course to have passed legislation by the end of
this year to revoke or reform around 2,000 pieces of Retained EU
Law and would set out more detail before the summer
recess.
Turning to skills and
employment, he said that apprenticeships are our biggest skills
programme and the principal way in which businesses invest in
skills. He said that since 2010 there had been a massive
expansion in both the quality and provision of apprenticeships
and that the challenge now was to further improve take
up.
The Education Secretary
updated Cabinet on how her department is taking action to boost
numbers and bear down on low quality higher education, including
through ensuring pupils can search for apprenticeships, as well
as degrees, using UCAS.
The Chancellor said
that, along with schools reforms which have helped place England
fourth in international rankings for reading globally,
apprenticeships were crucial to how we meet the UK’s skills
demand. He said the quality and standing of apprenticeships has
risen dramatically and both he and the Education Secretary had
tasked Sir Michael Barber with making recommendations on how the
apprenticeship offer can further improve so we are world
leading.
The Prime Minister
concluded Cabinet by saying that apprentices will play a crucial
role in our future prosperity and that they are central to
growing the economy.
