On Tour with Robert Halfon

By Trudy Harper

ROBERT Halfon, Harlow MP, has been travelling all over the country in his capacity as Skills and Apprenticeships Minister. The North East is leading the way in preparing young people for work.

Derwentside College in Consett is one of the largest and most successful apprenticeship providers in the country and Mr Halfon enthused at the impact it is making in providing a real ladder of opportunity.

Mr Halfon also visited a school in Blackpool where primary aged children were able to explore future careers. On leaving the area the minister spoke of raising aspirations and suggested the event should be happening nationwide.

Mr Halfon wants to make apprenticeships as prestigious as university degrees. Later in the week he met students at West Suffolk College and Cambridge Regional College where he experienced the diverse range of available apprenticeships. In Suffolk he and fellow conservative MP for Bury St. Edmunds, Joe Churchill discussed medicine management with Pharmacy apprentices whilst in Cambridge the Minister was able to sample culinary dishes and meet engineering students.

Mr Halfon employs his own Research Assistant Apprentice and will also be hosting a Jobs and Apprenticeship Fair in the Harlow Leisure zone on 21 October