Local MP, Caroline Dinenage, has today welcomed news that apprenticeships are on the up in the Gosport constituency.
At the start of National Apprenticeship Week, figures show the number of apprenticeship starts in the Constituency has grown by 5% since the previous year.
2730 people started an apprenticeship in 2016/17 compared to 2600 the previous year and 50% of these apprenticeships are in mechanical and engineering fields. Gosport constituency also had the highest number of starts in the South East.
Since 2010 the Government has reformed apprenticeships to put employers in the driving seat to drive up the quality of training. Apprentices can also progress from Level 2 to Masters Degree level in some sectors.
Welcoming the news Caroline said: "It is fantastic news that more local people are taking up the opportunity to pick up new skills and employers are investing in their staff.
National Apprenticeship Week is a fantastic opportunity to check our progress but also to see what else we can do to ensure our own young people do not pass up these opportunities on offer.
We already have excellent pockets of good practice locally, but I will work with the Local Enterprise Partnership, local Councils and businesses to spread this across the constituency."