Working to get things right for the long-term is always better than any short-term fix or gimmick. It is easy for publicity-seeking politicians to cynically jump from bandwagon to bandwagon, but when you look under the surface it is usually shallow and without any real substance. For example, I sometimes observe certain councillors posing for photographs in the street with their arms folded with a contrived look of indignation on their face, expressing ‘outrage’ at their own propaganda contained within their own press release. However, the reality is that synthetic outrage does not achieve any positive outcome or make any real long-term difference.
A good example of getting it right for the long-term is that of apprenticeships for our young people. As the party of extending opportunity to all, the Conservatives are committed to ensuring our young people have the skills and training to give them a bright future in the world of work. Apprenticeships have been a real success story and our future economy will be stronger because of the apprentices of today. In the last parliament, we created 2.38 million apprenticeships and this Conservative government has committed to creating 3 million more by 2020.
Small companies with less than 50 employees have been incentivised to take on and train apprentices aged 16-24 with a £1,500 payment per apprentice and from this April, employer national insurance contribution will no longer be payable for apprentices aged 16-24. It is this creating of an economic environment where it becomes in the interests of companies to take on apprentices that is enabling the practice of their taking on to become embedded in the workplace.
We should not forget where we were prior to 2010. Under the last Labour government, we saw a shocking 45% increase in youth unemployment and the level of apprentice start-ups was half of what it is today. Thankfully, Labour’s huge rise in youth unemployment has been reversed under the Conservatives. In a rapidly changing world, it has never been so important to give young people the skills they need to succeed in life and we’re doing exactly that.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conser vative Group
3rd February 2016