This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8464710.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Labour social mobility plans due Labour 'to help brightest youths'
(about 2 hours later)
Labour's plans to increase social mobility are to be unveiled. Labour is promising to help up to 130,000 of the "brightest" young people from poorer families with getting to college and university.
The proposals will encourage top professions and universities to attract people from deprived backgrounds. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said they would get a "structured package of support" from 2012, to help break the "glass ceiling of social mobility".
It follows ex-cabinet minister Alan Milburn's report saying professions like medicine and law were dominated by people from affluent families. He also pledged to set up a Social Mobility Commission, to report later.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are set to launch a raft of proposals aimed at improving the quality of teachers by requiring higher qualifications. Labour says it wants to encourage top professions and universities to attract more people from deprived backgrounds.
The plans, to be unveiled by Tory leader David Cameron, would also involve a scheme to persuade high flyers from other professions to become teachers instead. Its proposals follow a report by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn's report saying areas like medicine and law were dominated by people from affluent families.
BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said Labour's social mobility proposals were part of Gordon Brown's attempts to "portray Labour as the party of aspiration". Labour's plans for social mobility - which would depend on it winning the general election - were part of Gordon Brown's attempts to "portray Labour as the party of aspiration".
Mr Milburn reported that careers such as law and medicine were dominated by people from affluent backgrounds. 'Denied the chance'
Meanwhile, as the two main parties battle to win the middle-class vote ahead of the election expected in May, the Conservatives are calling for teaching to become a "brazenly elitist" profession, restricted to the best graduates.
In his response to Mr Milburn's report, Mr Brown said: "My mission is to ensure that all of Britain's people, from every background, are given the opportunity to develop their talents and learn the skills which will transform their lives. And this social mobility must be rooted in our core value of fairness.
"In many ways society is already fairer. Six hundred thousand children have been lifted out of poverty, record numbers of our young people are going to university, one in three people of working age is a member of a profession, and the gender pay gap has narrowed.
"But we can't be a truly aspirational society if some people are still denied the chance to get on, and although we have raised the glass ceiling we have yet to break it.
"That is why our priority will be to remove all the barriers that are holding people back."
In his report, Mr Milburn said careers such as law and medicine were dominated by people from affluent backgrounds.
The "vast majority" of his 88 recommendations are being accepted by the government and the former minister will help to establish a commission to track progress.The "vast majority" of his 88 recommendations are being accepted by the government and the former minister will help to establish a commission to track progress.
Student loans
A new forum will tell the top professions to come up with plans to widen their pool of recruits.A new forum will tell the top professions to come up with plans to widen their pool of recruits.
And a national internship service will give experience of these careers to more students and graduates.And a national internship service will give experience of these careers to more students and graduates.
However, the Conservatives have questioned why Labour had not done more to improve social mobility after 12 years in power. The Social Mobility Commission will be chaired by Professor Sir John Hills, director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics.
Elsewhere, Tory leader David Cameron will use a speech in south London to highlight how his party aims to improve the quality of teaching in English state schools. The Conservatives have questioned why Labour has not done more to improve social mobility after 12 years in power.
Mr Cameron is expected talk about the importance of teacher quality on children's education and how to get more good teachers into the classroom.
The plans include raising the bar to entry, paying student loan repayments of top maths and science graduates if they become teachers, and a new scheme called Teach Now aimed at getting more experienced people from other walks of life into teaching.