Pledge to create millions of jobs and apprenticeships

Small firms welcomed measures in an enterprise bill to ensure suppliers are paid on time, and changes to business rates.

A full employment and welfare benefits bill will aim to create three million apprenticeships while curtailing benefits for under-21s. The apprenticeships will be part-funded by reducing the cap on household benefits from £26,000 to £23,000.

John Longworth, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said companies would be concerned by the absence of concrete measures to help young people make the transition from education to work.

And there was widespread concern that a drive to create three million new apprenticeships would compromise on the quality of training.

Ted Salmon, Federation of Small Businesses regional chairman, North East England, said: “The issue is not only about the number of apprentices. The aim must be to make our apprentice system the world’s best, matching in quality to that offered in Germany, and offering a rewarding vocational alternative to academic routes.

“The only way to significantly increase the number of apprentices is to improve take-up among the North-East’s 149,000 small businesses. This requires Government to make it crystal clear what the benefits are, and what support is available. They must be affordable, have standards based on current industry practice, and the quality of training must give confidence to employers that apprenticeships will produce the skills they need for the long term.”

Liz Mayes, North East Region Director at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said the the speech suggested the Government stood "shoulder-to-shoulder with business" in wanting to see policies that support productivity and jobs.

One proposal that dismayed companies was a new visa levy for those employing foreign labour, which would fund apprenticeship schemes for British and EU workers.