More apprenticeships will be open to young people thanks to £11 million in Government funding as part of a new approach to help employers train the skilled workers of the future, Skills Secretary John Denham and Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced today.
Milton Keynes-based Scania and Mercedes-Benz have received funding for 169 apprentices, while DAF Trucks’ repair and maintenance plant in Luton is to recruit another 100.
The government has earmarked a total £11 million nationally that will result in around 3,000 new apprentices being trained at 16 firms over the next two years. The scheme aims to help smaller firms to benefit from the expertise of businesses which have been training apprentices successfully for some time.
It follows the Apprenticeship Review carried out by the government last year in which ministers pledged to explore financial incentives so larger firms could take on apprentices, benefiting smaller companies in their supply chains which could take them on at a later date.
Nearly 60 per cent of the funding will be targeted towards 16 to 18-year-olds with the majority of the remaining support going to support 19 to 24-year-old apprenticeships.
Skills Secretary John Denham said: “In these tough times we are determined to do all we can to support business to prepare for the upturn and continue to invest in improving the skills of the nation’s workforce.”
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls added: “We will not sit back during the current downturn or cut our investment when the priority is to build a talented, skilled and motivated workforce for the future.”
