Labour will reform the unpopular apprenticeship levy into a new skills fund, Angela Rayner pledged at a key business summit today.
The scheme, which firms have described as a “£3.5bn mistake”, means companies with a payroll of £3m or above have to put aside 0.5 per cent to spend on apprenticeships.
But firms say the rules around training types mean they have missed out on spending vast swathes of the cash – which is scooped up by the Treasury if unused after two years.
The party’s deputy leader told firms at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) future of work conference that Labour will “start by turning the Tories’ failed apprenticeships levy into a growth and skills levy”.
Rayner said Labour wanted the fund to be “used on the greater range of training courses that businesses tell us they need… so adults can gain new skills and businesses can grow.”
She told firms Labour was “unashamedly pro-worker and pro-business” with a plan for a “virtuous circle of growth”.
And she added: “13 years of economic failure has left businesses and working people out to dry… but our response cannot and will not be a rerun of the 1980s.”
Commenting after her keynote address, Rayner told the CBI: “People are one of the biggest assets we have in our economy.
“It’s the working people of this country that create the productivity and growth that we need.
“Harnessing their skills and making sure nobody is left behind is fundamental to our target to have the highest sustained growth in the G7.”
Her comments came the day after the party announced plans to support women with the menopause in the workplace, with Fawcett Society research indicating one in 10 women aged 45-55 left their jobs last year due to symptoms and a lack of support from employers.
The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, who is also Labour’s shadow minister for the future of work, told companies the party’s approach would help enshrine Keir Starmer’s ambition for the UK.
It comes after party leader Starmer unveiled what he said were Labour’s five key missions ahead of the next general election – growth, clean energy, the NHS, crime and opportunity.
And the speech follows efforts by the opposition to portray itself as the party of business, with Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves leading a sustained charm campaign.
Rayner, seen as a left-wing corrective to Starmer’s centrist style, said: “Working people want growth that they both create and share – jobs that are well paid and secure, communities that can stand on their own feet, public services that are strong enough to help them succeed.
“We will do this by being unashamedly both pro-worker and pro-business, because it is the best path to the virtuous circle of growth that enables us all to prosper.”
And, following ex-PM Liz Truss’ calamitous mini-budget that sent financial markets spiralling, she argued: “While Labour is pro-worker and pro-business, the Tories are neither – and that’s bad for working people, bad for business, bad for our economy and bad for our country.
“Never again can the Conservative Party credibly claim to be the party of business. Never forget that the labour market pressures you face are down to their decisions.”
Former Downing Street advisor and podcast host Jimmy McLoughlin described Rayner’s speech as passionate and said her remarks, including “profit is a good thing” were “almost unimaginable for a senior Labour front bench member to have said between 2010-2020/22”.
Saqib Bhatti, Conservative party vice chairman, said her words were “yet another empty soundbite from the party that said business is ‘the enemy’”.
He added: “We will take no lessons from a party that has never left office with unemployment lower than when they came to power.. their current ideas would see the economy stall and debt balloon.”
For all the latest Lifestyle News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
