The UK has a dynamic and flexible labour market with the highest employment rate in the G7 and 2.8 million new jobs have been created in the UK since 1997. Despite this success there are too many people still missing out on work and the benefits that it brings. This Government are determined to ensure that no individual is left behind. Independent projections suggest that there will be five million fewer low-skilled people in work in 2020, and five million more higher-skilled people in work. This will require significant upskilling of the British population from today's levels.
The announcement of new training places reaffirms the Government's commitment to upskilling British people to provide them with the skills required in a more competitive labour market, to get them off benefits and into jobs and to help them to advance from low skilled to higher skilled jobs. We will continue to help those who need to improve their skills—the overwhelming majority of whom, but not all are British.