Skills minister David Lammy will head up the task force, which is made up of employers, local government representatives, college principals and training providers. 

The task force will focus on public sector employers, and small and medium-sized private enterprises, which comprise 86 per cent of all businesses in London – the highest proportion of any part of the country.  It aims to persuade more London employers to offer apprenticeships. 

It will also work with employers to encourage them to open up their apprenticeships to the increasingly diverse workforce of the future. Currently, nearly a third of the population of the City of London is from an ethnic minority background.

Lammy said: “There aren’t enough apprenticeships available in London – and London’s people, young and old, deserve better. That’s why I have set up the London Apprenticeships Task Force to boost their growth.

“Apprenticeships are valued across Britain as a means of unlocking people’s talents and providing employers with a well-trained workforce which helps their business succeed.  But more than that, apprenticeships are about young people learning from older people, about handing knowledge on to future generations, and about giving young people the self-respect that might prevent them wasting their talents or getting involved in crime.”

By 2013 the government plans that all suitably qualified school leavers will be entitled to an apprenticeship place, and that over the next decade, one in five young people will start an apprenticeship.

Lee Acton, Chief Executive of Skillnet, said: “I am extremely pleased to have been asked to work with the task force. Skillnet believes there is no substitute for recruiting the best candidates and delivering training of the highest quality. Businesses in London face some real challenges in doing this.”

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