A report has revealed that more than £500,000 could be spent on a new apprenticeship programme in the Caerphilly County Borough.
The report, developed as part of the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), focuses on a range of work priorities across the region, one of which is the development of skills, training and apprenticeships to increase employment levels.
Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) want the scheme to support employment within the area while tackling the issue of an ageing workforce.
The move will be the first time the council has directly funded apprenticeships since 2011/12 when a budget of £485,000 was made, creating 40 new apprenticeships and four trainee opportunities.
The budget was cut to £150,000 in 2015/16 and eventually scrapped from 2016/17 due to ongoing savings measures.
Since then capital underspends have been ring-fenced into a usable reserve which, as of March 31, stood at £530,000.
Currently there are 35 apprentices employed across the borough, with 29 based in housing, four in schools and two in horticulture.
The proposed apprenticeships have been offered at two pay grades – £21,946 and £22,608 – with the majority being based in the building trade to satisfy future council demand.
Cabinet members will meet to discuss the funding, and the formation of an apprenticeship panel, on Wednesday, July 25.
CCBC admits that the sum is “limited” and demand is likely to outstrip the available funding, with potential Welsh Government funding only available for covering training costs as opposed to salaries.
Service areas within the council would have to apply for apprentices by submitting business cases to a proposed Apprenticeship Panel headed by council chiefs.
It is good news that apprenticeships are returning to the council after a break of several years. That said the amount that Britain as a whole spends on apprenticeships is woeful. I started a four and a half year apprenticeship in the mid 1970’s and was told at induction that my training would cost £10,000.
In today’s money that amount is close to £100,000.That year seven apprentices were taken on so the cost for just that batch of apprentices would cost £700,000 today. There were also apprentices taken on after that but Margaret Thatcher put a stop to it all in 1979. We are now reaping the cost, skilled people are aged and we, as a nation, are having to rely on people already trained from abroad. Madhouse economics and we are going to have to dig deep into our pockets to train our young people . They deserve a future, an apprenticeship is often a better route to a prosperous future than wasted years in pursuit of many of the university degrees on offer.