SKILLS MINISTER LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE NEW ‘YOUTH PLEDGE’ AT WELLINGTON DEVELOPMENT

Skills Minister Nick Boles has visited a Wellington development, to take part in a signing ceremony for a new pledge to every young person in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Wellington managing director Paul Pitcher welcomed the minister, along with MPs Chloe Smith, Ben Gummer and Peter Aldous, to the Wolseley Business Park in Lowestoft, where a new Youth Pledge, which promises every young person aged 16-24 in Norfolk and Suffolk that they will receive the personal support they need to get an apprenticeship, training, work experience or a job within three months of leaving education or employment.

The minister was also joined by representatives of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, as well as education leaders and local authority representatives.

Welcoming the party to Wolseley Park, Wellington managing director Paul Pitcher, who himself started his working life as an apprentice, said, “As confidence returns to the economy, it is very important to take the time out to bring young people forward.

“We are committed to the youth programme and to apprenticeships; it is that confidence which allows us to do this.”

Lowestoft MP Peter Aldous praised Wellington for the work it had done to make the Enterprise Zone a success, and added, “The Enterprise Zone is very important, but if you don’t have the people coming through with the right skills, you are going to fall short.”