Responding to the Government's 'Get Britain Working' announcement, Stephen Evans, Chief Executive of Learning and Work Institute (L&W), said:
The Government’s 80% employment rate ambition is welcome and echoes our call for this target, which we showed could boost the economy by at least £23 billion. To get there, we need to extend help to find work to more people, as our research shows only one in ten out-of-work disabled people get help to find work each year. So these new trailblazers, aiming to do just that, are welcome, though we await the details of what they will actually involve. Beyond that, the upcoming White Paper needs to set out an ambitious ten-year plan to extend employment support, join up work, health and skills, and work with employers on their recruitment and retention approaches. The prize is there in both economic growth and individual opportunity.
These numbers also mask substantial inequalities within construction. Women account for only 10 per cent of starts in construction apprenticeships so far this year, compared to 51 per cent of apprenticeships overall. In addition, this year only 9 per cent of construction starts are by individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds, with particularly big disparities for apprentices from black or Asian backgrounds.
The following years therefore present a unique opportunity to not only further boost apprenticeship numbers in the construction sector, but to expand their reach to wider groups. The new Government should work with employers and providers to seize this.
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New analysis shows that most working-age people receiving out-of-work benefits have been assessed as too ill to work or have caring responsibilities. In this report, L&W calls for a step change in support for people who want to work finding work.
This report argues that the UK should aim for an 80% employment rate for 16-64 year olds by 2035, requiring an extra 1.7 million people in work (not accounting for population growth) and bringing the UK into line with leading countries.