The PM and the Cabinet have hosted the latest public engagement event before holding their Cabinet meeting.

Ministers such as Peter Mandelson, Hazel Blears and Ed Balls answered questions on subjects including help for businesses, community regeneration and financial education in schools. We will have a film and transcript of the event available later.

Earlier today the PM paid a visit to the Museum of Liverpool, currently under construction, and took a tour of the city’s famous Albert Dock area to see the effects of regeneration.

The PM made the announcement on a visit to Rolls Royce in Derby with Skills Secretary John Denham and Education Secretary Ed Balls. The new investment will take the total number of Government-funded apprenticeships to more than a quarter of a million.

Government invests in apprenticeships

The Government is to invest £140 million to create a further 35,000 apprenticeships in 2009-10, the Prime Minister has said.

The PM made the announcement as he prepared to visit Rolls Royce in Derby with Skills Secretary John Denham and Education Secretary Ed Balls. The new investment will take the total number of Government-funded apprenticeships to more than a quarter of a million.

Mr Brown discussed Rolls Royce’s apprenticeship scheme - around 170 have been signed up for 2009 - with Chief Operating Officer Mike Terret and chatted to apprentices about their experiences. Other major employers backing the apprenticeship strategy include Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Superdrug and Phones4U.

Speaking to journalists on the way to Derby, the PM said the Government was doing all it can to help people through the global crisis hitting Britain. 

He said:

“Today we want to assure people that apprenticeships will be available, in fact we will have 35,000 more apprenticeships throughout the country over the next year. So we continue to train for the future, but what I want to do is to listen and to learn and to act on what people are saying.

“So I’m talking to businesses, I’m talking to families, I’m talking to people who are worried about their mortgages, I’m talking to a range of community organisations in the places I’m visiting…I want to hear what people have to say, to explain what we are doing and to explain what we are going to do next.”

Mr Brown is on a regional tour to visit families, workers, business and community leaders around the country and discuss ways of improving the economy through long-term sustainable investment. The centrepiece of the tour will be a full Cabinet meeting and public engagement event in Liverpool on Thursday.

Read the apprenticeships press release on the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills website (new window).