THE Conservatives have said the SNP “owe a huge apology” to young people after it emerged a promise on apprenticeship numbers had been derailed by the pandemic.
A key pledge in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, announced last September, was a £60million young persons’ guarantee, with a commitment that “every young person aged between 16 and 24 will be guaranteed an opportunity at university or college, an apprenticeship programme” employment or a place in a formal volunteering project.
After narrowly exceeding their 29,000 apprenticeship target for 2019/20, ministers raised it for 2020/21 to 30,000, with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) due to publish the tally in June.
READ MORE: Every pupil in Scotland to get laptop or tablet if SNP wins, Swinney pledges
However Business Minister Jamie Hepburn has now confirmed that “as Covid-19 continues to present unprecedented challenges for business across Scotland”, it is apparent that “we will now not meet our ambitious target of 30,000 apprenticeships starts this year”.
He has also warned the Covid shutdown could also impact the apprenticeships project in 2021/22.
With young workers already hardest hit by the lockdown, the Tories demanded an apology.
Scottish economy spokesman Maurice Golden said: “The SNP Government have failed to deliver the goods on their lauded scheme and owe a huge apology to those who put so much hope into the programme.
“With the deadly pandemic over the last year, new skills and training were needed more than ever to keep people competitive in a tough jobs market. The SNP have let young people down in a big way.”
He added: “Part of the problem is the SNP’s obsession with another independence referendum this year; it takes precedence over all economic issues like securing high-quality apprenticeships and jobs.
“The Scottish Conservatives plan to rebuild Scotland has re-training and improving employability as its centrepiece. Each year, we will offer £500 grants for every Scot to retain and help them learn new high-quality skills.”
READ MORE: Agenda: Apprenticeships provide the key to a diverse recruitment strategy
Mr Hepburn said: "The Tories are so obsessed with sticking flags on buildings and trying to tune up the Better Together band they have missed the SNP's interventions on this.
"Nicola Sturgeon announced back in November £25 million to support apprenticeships and provide opportunities for every young person in Scotland. We also announced the new £15 million Apprenticeship Employer Grant as we know it has been harder for business to take on apprentices during the pandemic.
"Our Young Persons Guarantee goes beyond anything available from other parties to ensure all young people have access to a job, education or training.
"To elect a government that will continue to stand up for and create opportunities for young people, it has to be Both Votes SNP in May."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel