UKREiiF Leeds 2023: Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves criticises 'narrow' curriculum that fails to prepare pupils for business

She said: “I worry that the curriculum at schools has become much too narrow and not focusing on the things that businesses want our young people to be equipped with to succeed.

"I would like to see more creativity in the curriculum to give people the skills they need to succeed in the world of work as it is today, not as it was, perhaps in the past.”

Ms Reeves was speaking to Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council, on the final day of the property conference UKREiiF, which was held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds this week.

During their on-stage discussion - In Conversation With Rachel Reeves MP – she talked about the need to reform the Apprenticeship Levy and hand over skills funding decisions to local communities.

"In a world where the types of jobs are changing so rapidly, we need to think much more about lifelong learning and opportunities later in life to acquire the skills, whether they are academic or technical skills,” she said.

Labour wants to create a new body – a growth and skills levy – which would have more flexibility to increase the skills of the British workforce and boost apprenticeships.

Ms Reeves said: “The Apprenticeship Levy as it is set up today is not working for businesses well enough and it’s not working either for young people or older people trying to acquire the skills they need to get on.”

She added: “If we want to transition to the industries of the future, and to net zero, we need to make sure that the people who are working in those industries have a chance to transition to those new jobs.

"The Apprenticeship Levy needs a lot more flexibility compared to what it’s got today.”

In December, Labour set out its plans to hand power back to towns and cities to reignite the economy.

The Commission on the UK’s Future report, ‘A New Britain’ laid out recommendations on how Labour should devolve power across the country.

"One of the areas that we identified as ripe for greater devolution is skills because the skills needs in Leeds are going to be very different from those, for example, in Middlesbrough or Redcar where you’re going to have carbon capture and storage. Or from Grimsby and Immingham where floating offshore wind is going to be part of the future,” Ms Reeves said.

“Different parts of the country have different industries and different opportunities and yet there is too much central control of the skills budget and the skills we’re investing in.”

She added: “A combination of the reform of the Apprenticeship Levy and devolution of skills funding are the two policy interventions that an incoming Labour government would make to help young people and people retraining to get the skills they need to succeed and secure the jobs of the future.”