SMALL businesses should get more help from government to take on an apprentice, believes Barrow MP John Woodcock.

Some 730 people were employed on apprenticeships at Barrow and Furness over the last year, with the vast majority of those at BAE and GSK Ulverston.

But Mr Woodcock wants youngsters to have the opportunity to learn on the job with small firms as well as large corporations.

Returning to the Labour front bench as a shadow education minister, Mr Woodcock flagged the problems that many smaller business face when recruiting apprentices, with many of them facing high costs and low retention rates.

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Mr Woodcock said: "In Barrow and Furness we have a few excellent examples of apprenticeship programmes which can lead to major opportunities. But I want everyone to have access to that kind of on-the-job training and at the moment, they are blocked because small businesses simply can't take them on.

“The government needs to do more to help all businesses, regardless of size, to take on apprentices."

Government minister Nick Boles MP said: “Not surprisingly, he has raised a very important point. It is extremely important for us to make the apprenticeship programme attractive and easily accessible to small as well as large companies.

“There are specific grants for small employers, but we need to make the system much easier for them to navigate."