An MP who hoped to create 100 new apprenticeships in Norfolk over two years has been accused of falling short with leaked figures claiming only nine have been created.
North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker launched his challenge in October 2022, hoping to deliver 100 new apprenticeships in his constituency by autumn this year.
But the North Norfolk Labour Party claims it has now "collapsed" as the scheme's steering group has not met since June last year.
The scheme has been backed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Norfolk County Council, North Norfolk District Council and various commercial partners.
But the DWP has now revealed that as of February 5 – the start of National Apprenticeships Week – just nine new apprenticeship starts have been recorded.
However Mr Baker said it was "virtually impossible” to tell how many new apprenticeships had been created due to data laws.
And it was also admitted there were no figures available for any starters from other partners in the group.
Julia Nix, the DWP’s East Anglia district manager, also said the scheme's steering group has not met in eight months.
“I can confirm there have been no steering group meetings since 16 June 2023,” an email sent from Miss Nix, seen by this newspaper, said.
“With regards progress on numbers, I understand DWP have recorded nine starts to date - however we do not have figures for any starts from other partners in the group.”
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The North Norfolk Labour Party said it is "another government policy failure".
Martyn Sloman, election agent and treasurer of the party, said "Duncan Baker has embarked on an exercise in self-promotion with no substance behind it" which "has now collapsed".
However, Mr Baker said it is “virtually impossible” to tell how many new apprenticeships have been taken up directly through the scheme because of data protection.
He said as data cannot be shared, they "decided it was not necessary to continue steering committee meetings on a quarterly pattern".
“It was always my key aim when I launched my Duncan Baker 100 Apprenticeship scheme to raise the profile of apprenticeship opportunities across north Norfolk,” Mr Baker said.
"That’s why I pulled all the stakeholders together to hold major publicity events to draw attention to apprenticeship opportunities and worked with the DWP, Norfolk County Council, North Norfolk District Council and private apprenticeship providers.
"Multiple job fairs were held in North Walsham and Stalham and even a specific apprenticeship job fair which was attended by over 200 young people.
“It was of course virtually impossible to link apprenticeship take up to the publicity we promoted around apprenticeships, and for GDPR [general data protection regulation] reasons each provider is not allowed to disclose data on the specific apprentices, and if they resulted from our publicity drive.
“Therefore, we rely on the national data for apprenticeship take up and can break it down to region levels.
“I am delighted to report that in the last period, year on year data set I have seen, north Norfolk saw 469 apprenticeship starts. This is basically back to pre-pandemic levels and something I am extremely pleased to see.
"It shows that despite all the challenges our young people faced, opportunities and apprenticeships are coming back strongly in North Norfolk.
"I will continue to meet with our group of stakeholders promoting apprenticeships periodically now, safe in the knowledge that we have a terrific team of people driving apprenticeships across our home.
"I’d like to particularly thank Julia Nix and Jonathan Thetford from the DWP and Katy Dorman from Norfolk County Council for being such spearheads to drive apprenticeships locally."
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The latest Department for Education figures show there was a total of 470 apprenticeship starts in the 2022/23 academic year.
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