Chloe Smith launches campaign to fight for better opportunities for young people in Norwich

Chloe Smith, Member of Parliament for Norwich North, will on Friday 10^th February be launching the first phase of her latest campaign to fight for better opportunities for young people in Norwich.

Chloe, in partnership with Dick Palmer, Principal of City College Norwich, is launching a survey of young people to build a clearer picture of their experience of apprenticeship programmes, the difficulties they have faced and what opportunities they seek to get into the world of work.

The results of the survey will then inform Chloe’s ongoing work by highlighting how best to raise awareness of the opportunities that already exist to help young people into employment.

Chloe will also be out and about in Norwich, visiting local businesses that currently offer apprenticeship schemes to better understand the benefits they have experienced by offering opportunities to young people.

She will be demonstrating the clear business case for providing apprenticeships and encouraging other local businesses offer a scheme, informing them of what support and advice is available to them.

Chloe will also be working closely with the local Federation of Small Businesses who has lent their support to the campaign. A recent survey of FSB members concluded that 440 businesses in East Anglia would be seriously interested in hiring young apprentices if they received the right information and support.

Chloe is seeking to build a bridge between those young people that would love an apprenticeship opportunity and those businesses that would be willing to offer this to them.

Chloe Comments: “First of all, we need to help businesses grow and create jobs - step by step, one by one.  If a business can take on one extra person, that means a job for someone.  My single biggest priority for this year as a local MP is to help businesses do that.

“Secondly, we need young people to be ready to work.

“Young people want to work, and there are opportunities out there for them. I too often find that both young people and their potential employers are unaware of how much help is now available to help young people into employment.

“I urge businesses in Norwich of all sizes to look at the potential benefits of providing apprenticeships.  You can see more here:  http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/, even including a ready reckoner for the return in pounds and pence that your company could get by hiring an apprentice.

“But I want to hear from young people too.  Tell me what holds you back from work.  Lack of opportunities?  Not sure how to get the right qualification?  I want to hear from you so that we can all pull together – young people, businesses, colleges, politicians, and the Norwich community – to solve this problem.

“Helping businesses to grow and young people into jobs is the single biggest issue for me as a local MP this year. It’s too important to be ignored.”

Dick comments: “City College Norwich aims to give all of our students access to experiencing the world of work, whilst they study at the college, and we provide around 1,500 work placements/internships a year which support this aim of student employability. We also support around 800 current Apprentices and are working with the Gazelle group of colleges to look at two new forms of placement – an enternship and intrapreneur – which look to develop the entrepreneurial skills of our students whilst in the workplace.”