On a visit to Scottish Gas in Hamilton, the Scottish Conservative leader unveiled her party’s plans on how best to spend the proceeds from the Apprenticeship Levy, due to come on stream next year.
Ruth said today that, as Scotland’s strong opposition party, the Scottish Conservatives will campaign against any attempt by the SNP Government to “siphon off” the funds into other priorities.
The Scottish Conservative proposals include a fifteen point plan for the Apprenticeship Levy, and come a day after the Scottish Government yesterday published responses from industry figures on how best to use the new funding.
The Scottish Conservative plan includes:
- A commitment to ensure all the new Levy funding is used for in-work training only.
- A call for the SNP to be fully transparent about how much funding is being raised
- A proposal to expand apprenticeships for older workers who require retraining
It is expected that as much as £300 million will be made available to the Scottish Government as a result of the new Levy, starting in April 2017.
However, because the funding will form part of the block grant, the Scottish Government could use the cash for other priorities.
With firms across Scotland reporting a growing ‘skills gap’, the Scottish Conservatives will demand that the Levy is used to boost in-work training.
Ruth Davidson said:
“We want to make Scotland the skills capital of Europe – so we believe every penny of this new funding must be spent on boosting training for workers.
"Scottish companies are contributing millions of pounds, but the Scottish Government won't tell them how that money is going to be spent or how it will benefit their businesses.
"We can't allow the SNP to siphon off these funds to pay for pet projects and our message is clear - there must be no attempt to rob Peter to pay Paul.
"Nicola Sturgeon has shown how little she cares for vocational education by gutting Scotland's colleges and cutting 152,000 college places.
"She's about to be handed millions of pounds from Scottish firms to spend on skills training - she needs to make clear that money will be used to develop a skilled workforce.
“We now have the chance to invest in Scotland’s workers. Let’s seize this chance to make a real difference for the long-term."
A recent survey by CBI Scotland and Pearson showed that the supply of skilled workers in Scotland is failing to keep pace with demand: over two-thirds of businesses in Scotland (69%) are not confident about filling their high-skilled jobs in future.
Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservative spokesman for jobs, employability and training, added:
“Business across Scotland are telling us that they want to hire more people – but they are also warning that they can’t find people with the skills required.
“We now have the chance to invest in Scotland’s workers. That means 35,000 apprenticeships by 2021 and new training for current workers whose skills need updating.
“That includes many older workers who are currently barred from taking on a Modern Apprenticeship. Thousands of experienced workers, particularly in the north-east, need help to re-skill – and government must act now to support them.”