The Prime Minister launches the Lifetime Skills Guarantee for people in Eddisbury

• Adults without an A-level or equivalent qualification offered a free and fully-funded college course to provide them with skills valued by employers, and the opportunity to study at a time and location that suits them. This offer will be available from April in England and will be paid for through the National Skills Fund. A full list of available courses will be set out shortly. 
   
• Higher education loans made more flexible – allowing adults and young people to choose the length and type of course that is right for them. This will allow them to take more high-quality vocational courses in further education colleges and universities. The Government is committed to making higher education more flexible to facilitate lifelong learning – and will make it easier for people to break up their student into segments, transfer credits between colleges and universities and enable more part-time study. 
   
• More investment in college buildings and facilities, helping to ensure colleges are excellent places for people to learn. This investment includes over £1.5 billion in capital funding, with more details to follow in a further education white paper later this year. 
   
• The offer of training extended in a number of sectors, helping the country to build back better. The Government is committed for £8 million for digital skills boot camps; expanding successful pilots in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands and introducing programmes in four new locations. From next year, boot camps will be extended to sectors like construction and engineering, helping the country build back better. Earlier this year, the government also launched a free online Skills Toolkit, helping people train in digital and numeracy skills. This is being expanded today to include 62 additional courses.

This builds on the Government’s Plan for Jobs, which commits to supporting young people to find jobs:

• Creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs for young people through a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, to give young people the best possible chance of getting a job. The scheme will directly pay businesses to create new, decent and high-quality jobs for any 16-24 year old at risk of long-term unemployment. Funding for each job will cover 100 per cent of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, for six months in total, plus an admin fee – for a grant of around £6,500 per placement.
   
• Providing significant cash incentives for businesses to support people into work, paying businesses £1,000 to take on trainees, with £111 million to triple the scale of traineeships, which consist of work experience placements, training and work preparation for 16-24 year olds. The Government is also providing £2,000 to employers for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25, helping more people into the workplace while developing key skills, and £1,500 for any apprentice aged over 25.
   
• Tripling the number of places available through Sector-Based Work Academies, supporting those who are out of work with an additional £17 million to provide the new skills they need to re-enter the jobs market.
   
• Giving young people who have just left school the skills they need to find work in high-value sectors, such as engineering, construction and social care. We will provide £101 million to help 18 and 19 year olds to take high value courses at Levels 2 and 3 where work opportunities are not available.

Pictured - Edward Timpson, the Conservative MP for Eddisbury.