Labour’s Parliamentary Candidates for North and South Swindon, Will Stone and Heidi Alexander have set out Labour’s plan to boost skills and drive economic growth in the town, as data reveals the Conservative’s decade of decline in apprenticeships and training has left Swindon unprepared for the future.
Over the last decade apprenticeship starts have declined by 130 in South Swindon and 90 in North Swindon as the Conservatives have failed to equip individuals and the economy with the skills to meet our national challenges including transition to net zero and rising demand for digital skills.
To reverse this downward trend Labour will give businesses the flexibility they’re asking for to train their workforce and deliver growth. We will start by turning the failed apprenticeships levy into a ‘Growth and Skills Levy’.
The Conservatives’ levy has seen millions of pounds that should be used for skills training going unspent, even as businesses report growing skills shortages. Giving businesses flexibility would ensure this money could be best on a greater range of training courses including basic English, maths and digital skills, so businesses can fill skills gaps and people can gain new skills to progress at work.
As part of a wider package of reform, Labour will establish a new taskforce, Skills England, to drive forward a national mission to deliver the skills needs of the next decade. This will be driven by pushing power and decisions on skills spending out from Westminster to local communities, so those communities can better match up skills training with their local business needs and grow local and regional economies.
Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for South Swindon, Heidi Alexander said: “Boosting skills and training opportunities in Swindon is essential to meet the economic challenges we face. With large employers in Swindon, like Nationwide, announcing significant job losses this week, it’s critical we ensure businesses have the flexibility they need to train people up with new skills from digital technologies, to the green skills needed to tackle climate change.”
“For twelve years the Conservative Government have been letting down our community with a decade of decline in opportunities.
“Young people in Swindon and are ambitious for their future and want to learn new skills to get new jobs, or progress at work. We need a Government which matches their ambition and starts to deliver real change for the town”
Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for South Swindon, Will Stone said: “For too long the next generation have been failed by the Conservative Government. The Labour Party’s proposal to use the apprenticeship levy in a more flexible way builds on Labour’s commitment to embed essential digital and life-skills across the school curriculum, and ensure all young people receive professional careers advice and work experience so they leave education ready for work and for life.”
The new Swindon and Wiltshire Institute of Technology (IoT) at Swindon’s New College offers apprenticeships in engineering, IT, digital skills, science & health, creative & media and business management.
All apprentices studying with the IoT will have access to state-of-the-art facilities and high quality apprenticeship training.
Whether you are hoping to hire or be hired as an apprentice, Swindon News College’s website is full of information to set you on the right path.
