Skip to main content

Social Mobility

Volume 493: debated on Thursday 11 June 2009

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what policies of his Department have objectives to increase social mobility. (278999)

The ‘New Opportunities’ White Paper sets out Government's commitment to help people get on and get ahead. The key actions we are taking include expanding apprenticeships; tackling the NEET problem; and widening participation in HE. We are tripling the number of career development loans and maximising the help that FE colleges and providers can give to individuals looking for work or wanting to get on.

Building enterprise capability and the confidence and ambition to start a business are critical and we are supporting some key activities to enable individuals and businesses to start and grow. We are:

Working with young people to provide them with experience of enterprise and opportunities to develop the necessary skills and confidence;

Directly supporting individuals to hone their ideas and start a business as well as established businesses who want to thrive and grow through the Government's streamlined portfolio of business support products and services, delivered via Business Link;

And helping to remove barriers to enterprise especially improving access to finance.