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Congratulations to SCC for their work in getting 265 apprenticeships placed in Surrey in the
course of 2012 and 2013. That's a 19 percent increase in apprenticeships in Surrey and
is better than the United Kingdom as a whole where numbers overall have been falling.
I'm even more pleased that the council is using today to announce David Hodges intention
to creating 500 more places available over the course of the next 2 years; that builds
on the work that Reigate and Banstead Borough Council have been doing where they have 50
young workers in their young workers scheme in apprenticeships and work. So there could
be nowhere more appropriate to launch this initiative than Reigate itself.
Of course, this builds on the work and the priority that this is for the Governement
nationally. I'm delighted that Surrey has reflected this thinking in the work that it
is doing with the Youth Support Service in developing pre apprenticeships schemes as
well. We all know about the priority of targeting
support at young people to get them into employment. The Skills Minister has said that we know
that many young people who are not currently in education, employment or training are highly
motivated by work or the prospect of it. We need to ensure that young people are well
equipped with the skills to impress potential employers and to succeed in jobs including
apprenticeships. Well, my ministerial colleague is absolutely
right -- it is a statement of the blindingly obvious because it is blindingly obvious that
you need to support young people at this stage of their lives. It's very important that we
don't allow them to enter into a negative spiral of unemployment so early in their potential
careers. That's why I am delighted that a Peer Review by the LGA has rated the work
that SCC is doing in this area so highly. This approach is borne out by results -- in
the constituency of Reigate over the course of the last year youth unemployment has fallen
from 315 to 230. That is a fall of 27 percent. It is twice the national average and it is
a terrific result by any standards. So the positive benefits of the schemes that
we are launching today are blindingly obvious but they do need the county council, the borough
councils and employers to get together to make them a reality.
I am profoundly grateful for all you are doing to make these schemes are reality and to give
young people the best possible start in life. Thank you