LAST week saw a series of positive job announcements from the Welsh Labour-led Government. This included a very welcome Welsh Government investment in Celsa steel to safeguard high quality jobs across and beyond our constituency.

During #Jobsweek the Welsh Government launched its new Apprenticeship Policy, which sets out its vision for addressing the needs of Welsh businesses and the wider economy.

The policy and its five year action plan sets out how the Welsh Government will support the delivery of our manifesto commitment to create a minimum of 100,000 high quality apprentices in Wales over this Assembly term.

The policy focusses on four priority areas, increasing the number of apprentices aged 16-19; addressing skills shortages particularly in sectors such as engineering, construction and financial; developing higher level skills and developing skills pathways.

Apprenticeships have a tremendous economic and social value. The Labour-led Welsh Government recognises the importance that apprenticeships play in creating a highly qualified workforce.

They are of enormous benefit not only for the apprentice but also for the businesses training them. They can fill a skills gap and allow businesses the opportunity to tailor their workforce around their specific needs.

According to Welsh Government research more than 80 per cent of businesses say that apprentices have made their workplace more productive. Apprenticeships are key to achieving economic success and building a stronger and fairer Wales.

The policy also outlines how the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy will be managed in Wales.

The Levy is an employment tax imposed by the Conservative UK Government which is due to come into effect on April 6. The Welsh Government has made it clear that the levy directly conflicts with areas of devolved responsibility, completely overlooks and undermines our very distinctive approach to supporting apprenticeships in Wales.

Despite the headline claims made for the levy it does not bring significant extra resource to Wales.

To help minimise the impact of the levy the Welsh Government will be increasing its own investment in apprenticeships from £96 million to £111.5 million for 2017-18. This brings the Welsh Labour Government's total investment in apprenticeships and traineeships next year to more than £126 million.

I am proud of the Welsh Government’s commitment to helping thousands of people into training and benefitting businesses across Wales.

I am particularly proud that Wales leads the way in the UK with apprenticeship completion rates remaining more than 80 per cent, considerably higher than the 69 per cent success rate in England.

Apprenticeships were a feature of the conversations on the doorstep in Penarth in the 2016 Assembly election campaign. We already have much to be proud of when it comes to our apprenticeship record in Wales.

Even more importantly we are delivering against the promises that we made to the people of Wales to be ambitious for our future.

If you would like any further information then please get in touch with my office on 0300 200 7150.