Published on:
06
September 2012
Clackmannanshire Council's Enterprise and Environment Committee today (Thursday) agreed to support a £½ million partnership initiative which will create 40 additional Modern Apprenticeships for young people by the end of this month.
The Clackmannanshire Apprenticeship Initiative will provide funding to local companies to allow them to create new and additional apprenticeship places in the private sector.
Committee Convenor, Councillor Donald Balsillie said: "These places will be targeted at 16-24 year-olds with priority given to 16-19 year-olds."
The Committee have agreed to support the initiative by providing £120,000 of funding over three financial years towards the overall cost of delivering the initiative, subject to it being approved by Council.
Councillor Balsillie added: "Youth unemployment is a significant issue, particularly in Clackmannanshire. A Youth Employment Summit was hosted by Skills Development Scotland in February this year to highlight this issue and examine how to improve on youth employment opportunities in the area.
"One of the ideas that came out of the Summit was a suggestion for the public and private sectors to generate funding to support the wage costs of an additional 40 apprenticeships."
The Clackmannanshire Apprenticeship Initiative aims to help 40 Clackmannanshire young people, particularly school leavers, into apprenticeships and help local businesses in the private sector create the additional apprenticeship places.
The average length of time to complete a Modern Apprenticeship varies depending on the sector and can be anything from nine months for a Modern Apprenticeship at level 2 in Business and Administration to four years for a craft apprentice.
Councillor Balsillie added: "To be eligible for the Clackmannanshire Apprenticeship Initiative, businesses must have a business base in Clackmannanshire and operate in the private sector. They can be any size of company - small, medium or large - and must offer a job that will follow and agreed Modern Apprenticeship or similar accredited pathway."
The cost of individual apprenticeship training varies depending on the sector and occupational area and can be anything from £1,550 up to £9,000.
The Scottish Government has recently announced an additional £25 million of European Structural Funds for youth employment which stakeholders will be invited to bid into late Autumn 2012. There is potential for the Council to access some funding through this route in order to satisfy the public sector contribution to the initiative.
As at 31st May 2012, there were 218 individuals aged 16-19 who were unemployed and seeking employment in the county. The Clackmannanshire Apprenticeship Initiative seeks to target this group by offering new or additional apprenticeship places which accounts for almost a fifth of this group.