Youth unemployment and apprenticeships will come under the spotlight when a Greater Manchester MP takes his Private Members’ Bill to parliament.
Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, was drawn seventh in the government’s annual ballot and has the opportunity to put a bill before the House of Commons.
And he has opted to tackle rising rates of youth unemployment and, in particular, a lack of apprenticeships in the public sector.
“One of the biggest issues that I am aware of is the issue of long term youth unemployment and the lack of opportunities produced with public sector contractors,” he told MM.
“The latest youth unemployment statistics have shown another increase in Tameside and Stockport.”
The idea became apparent to Mr Gwynne during a visit to a Stockport Engineering Training Association (SETA) centre in South Reddish last Friday.
He said: “It got me thinking, why don’t we try and make a requirement in law that if you are a public sector contractor you have to take on apprentices?
“Contractors and sub-contractors should be required to take a proportion of apprenticeships. After all, it is your taxpayers’ money that is paying for these public sector contractors.
“It would not cost the taxpayer a single penny extra.”
Mr Gwynne has had success with a Private Members’ Bill in the past, when he was given the opportunity to present one to parliament in 2009.
The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 received cross-party support and resulted in a new law, which protects developing countries from vulture funds.
He added: “Having managed to get a Private Members’ Bill on the statute books before, I am keen to make a difference again.”
Picture courtesy of Chris Hunkeler, with thanks.
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