Gordon Marsden MP, Labour’s Shadow Skills Minister, commenting on a report from a sub-committee of the Education and Business Select Committee, claiming that the Government’s apprenticeship levy lacks focus and targets the wrong industries, said:

“Today’s report confirms what Labour have been saying all along, that while the Government are obsessing over reaching an arbitrary target for apprenticeship starts, they are doing nothing to ensure the right outcomes for learners.

"The fact that the Government’s approach lacks focus and targets the wrong industries shows that they have failed to develop an industrial strategy worthy of the name, and can only offer headline chasing gimmicks instead.

"Closing the skills gap and giving young people and older learners the skills they need should be essential to securing our post-Brexit future, yet once again this Government have nothing serious to offer the country.”