Scottish Labour’s Apprenticeship Guarantee

Scottish Labour has pledged to “create opportunities for all” as it unveils new plans to guarantee apprenticeships for all qualified candidates in key sectors.

Anas Sarwar is setting out new plans for Scotland’s skills system ahead of Scottish Labour’s policy conference, in which the party will hold the SNP to account for wasting Scotland’s potential and highlight the choice facing Scotland in under six months.

As it stands hundreds of qualified apprenticeship applicants are being turned away every year due to a lack of spaces, even in industries crying out for additional workers.

Last year the SNP government funded nearly 9,000 fewer apprenticeships than colleges and industry asked for, robbing thousands of Scots of opportunities and starving businesses of skilled workers.

Meanwhile, youth unemployment in Scotland is rising, with more than one in eight young people in Scotland unemployed.

The intervention comes after the Scottish Parliament voted to condemn the SNP’s record on skills and back some of Labour’s proposals.

Scottish Labour accused the SNP of “wasting the last four years” instead of delivering renewal after the pandemic.

Under Scottish Labour’s plans, any qualified apprenticeship candidate will be guaranteed a place in a sector where workers are needed – a move that will help bridge the gap between the number of apprenticeships requested and the number delivered.

This pledge forms part of a wider set of proposals from Scottish Labour to better link up education and skills with the world of work.

This includes proposals for a university-style clearing system for Scotland’s apprenticeship system and plans to give colleges a clearer economic remit and align their funding with economic priorities.

Commenting, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “The SNP is consigning young people to the scrapheap while businesses are scrambling to find the skills they need.

“Instead of delivering the renewal we were promised after the pandemic, the SNP has wasted the last four years tinkering around the edges of our broken skills system.  

“Now young people are missing out, businesses are being held back, and our nation’s ambitions are being undermined.

“If we are going to tackle the housing emergency, win the global race on green jobs and strengthen our national security we need the skilled workers to do it – but young people are being turned away from these opportunities.

“The SNP’s story is one of missed opportunities and squandered potential – but this is not as good as it gets.

“A Scottish Labour government will step up where the SNP has failed, fix Scotland’s broken skills system and create opportunities for all.

“In less than six months we have another chance to deliver the recovery the SNP promised at the last election and failed to deliver – we cannot afford to waste it.

“Scottish Labour will focus on fixing the basics. We will tackle waste and incompetence and build a government that works as hard as the people it serves.

“That is the choice ahead – another parliament of drift under a tired SNP, or a Scotland that delivers for you.”