Extracts from Parliamentary proceedings - Sep 30

Thursday, 1 October 2020 08:20

Extract from report stage (Lords) of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill

The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con):...In Committee, the noble Lord, Lord Green of Deddington, and my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe spoke about the risk of losing control of our borders and disadvantaging young people and the unemployed in the UK. The noble Lord also mentioned the Government’s recently launched Kickstart programme and his concerns that its benefits would be reduced due to our young people facing further difficulties and unlimited competition from those overseas migrants who meet the new entrant definition. I hope I can reassure noble Lords that this is simply not the case. Our salary requirements for all skilled workers are based on national earnings data for UK workers. Furthermore, while new entrants will benefit from a reduced salary rate, recognising these individuals should not be disadvantaged by the fact that they typically earn around 30% less than experienced workers, they will still need to meet other mandatory requirements to be successfully granted leave. Namely, along with all other skilled workers, they must have a sponsoring employer, a job at the appropriate skill level and be able to speak English to an accepted standard. Furthermore, the new entrant rate is not an indefinite offer. It is designed for those essentially at the start of their careers...

Extract from PMQs

Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab) [V]: The hospitality sector has already suffered hugely as a result of this crisis and is now facing further damage because of the Chancellor’s decision to withdraw support. Nearly 200,000 jobs in the hospitality sector across London are now at risk, including more than 800 jobs in my constituency of Lewisham East. Working people deserve a Government who work for them. Instead, they are being told that their jobs are unviable. Why do the Chancellor and the Prime Minister feel that these jobs are not worth saving? [906866]

The Prime Minister: We are doing everything we can to save every job in the country. That is why the Chancellor set out the winter economic plan and why we have the job retention bonus at the end of January. But, of course, things are tough. As the Chancellor has said, alas, we cannot save every job, but we have the Kickstart funds, with £2 billion to support young people into work, plus we now have a lifetime skills guarantee to ensure that people can retrain for the jobs that are going to be created by this economy.

Extracts from motion to consider the Draft Apprenticeships (Alternative English Completion Conditions and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan):...In addition, last week the Chancellor set out a new job support scheme to help affected businesses protect jobs as they seek to return to operations in the coming months. To support apprenticeships to continue during the pandemic, we introduced a range of flexibilities to promote remote learning and assessment, and enabled furloughed apprentices to continue to trade. As we build back stronger from the pandemic, apprenticeships will play a key role in creating jobs and boosting the skills that employers need to increase their productivity. We know that young people starting their careers are disproportionately impacted in economic downturns, so in our plan for jobs we announced payments of £2,000 to employers hiring a new apprentice aged under 25 between 1 August and 31 January 2021. Employers can also claim payments of £1,500 for taking on new apprentices aged 25 or older. For young people seeking the skills to enter the labour market, we are tripling the number of traineeships we make available and rewarding employers for offering work placements, as well as subsidising employers to create new short-term roles as part of the Kickstart scheme...

Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con):...I urge the Minister to think about how the apprenticeship scheme could be tied into the superb Kickstart scheme that the Chancellor announced. Although I appreciate that the scheme is a short-term measure, the Government should certainly consider it as a longer-term solution and a step towards an apprenticeship. Many young people need to understand why doing an apprenticeship is beneficial...

Gillian Keegan: Those 570 apprentices in Stoke-on-Trent have made a good decision and we will be there to make sure that it pays off for them. The increasing focus on small and medium-sized companies is vital, because areas such as Stoke have a lot of employers in that bracket, which is why we need to make sure that the apprenticeship system works well for them and for all young people in Stoke-on-Trent so they get that opportunity.

In relation to my hon. Friend’s comments on Kickstart and the apprenticeship scheme, they are designed to work together. We expect young people who benefit from Kickstart to be taken on and employed full time or to go into the apprenticeship system, learn new skills and progress in the workplace...

Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab): I, too, was interested in what the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North said about the Kickstart scheme, because obviously, ideally, there would be a continuum from Kickstart to apprenticeship. Will the Minister commit to publishing indications of the journeys that those who begin on Kickstart make so that we can see if they do indeed transition into apprenticeships? There is a real concern that the financial incentive for some employers is simply to do the Kickstart element at the expense of offering a much richer and more valuable career through an apprenticeship. Obviously that would be of concern to the Minister, as it is to us.

Gillian Keegan: I know that there has been a question about the eligibility for Kickstart and apprenticeships and how those two schemes work together, but they do work together because they have different eligibility criteria. For example, to take part in the Kickstart scheme, someone would usually be unemployed already and receiving universal credit, as well as meeting other criteria.

It is important to make sure that those opportunities work well together, which is why we are very much focused on the quality of apprenticeships as well. We look at and publish the destination data, certainly for apprenticeships. The Kickstart scheme is run by the Department for Work and Pensions, but I am sure that it will look at destination data, because it is a huge investment and it is important that we get it right...

To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE