DAVID Cameron has vowed to tackle social breakdown in the

South West by creating 11,000 new places for apprentices.

The Conservative leader unveiled proposals to encourage

small and medium-sized businesses to take on trainees and help

them to learn valuable skills on the job.

The move comes just days ahead of the exclusive WMN event in

which readers will be able to quiz Mr Cameron about his

policies. He will questions on a range of topics at the

question time in Padstow.

Many of the questions already submitted focus on the growing

fear about unemployment and recession while others have raised

concerns about the quality of education.

With the economic downturn and the threat to jobs in the

region, Mr Cameron used a speech yesterday to insist more help

was needed to improve the skills of young people struggling to

find work. According to official figures in the South West,

there are some 14,500 people aged 16 to 18 who are not in

employment, training or education, with a further 41,000 aged

19 to 24.

Mr Cameron said apprenticeships are crucial for improving

skill levels, and can also help address Britain's social

problems by helping young men to engage constructively with

society. He pledged to increase the number of apprenticeships

available in the region from 20,800 to 32,245.

Mr Cameron said: “This is a particularly important policy

paper as it is one of the areas where the social agenda and the

economic agenda come together.

“Getting skills right is about strengthening society and

strengthening the economy.”

Under the green paper plans, small and medium-sized

enterprises would be offered a £2,000 bonus for each apprentice

who completes his scheme.

Group training associations would be given enough funding to

help small businesses, such as plumbers and electricians, work

together when offering training.

And bureaucratic burdens on employers would be reduced by

creating a single funding stream for all apprenticeships, not

just those for young people.

Shadow skills secretary David Willetts said getting more

young people into work was good for society. He added: “There

is a lot of evidence that if we want people to hold down a

stable family relationship, being able to hold down a stable

job is a particularly important part it.

“Young men are being left to their own devices and not given

the kind of practical training they really need so they are not

getting into decent work. If you tackle that problem you can

really start making a difference.”

But Treasury minister Kitty Ussher said: “This is just the

latest in a long list of Tory unfunded spending commitments and

it is a bit rich coming from them. Under Labour the number of

apprenticeships has more than doubled. They want more

borrowing, more spending and less tax – all at once. The sums

just don't add up.”