Lord Sugar has called on the Government to divert money away from training facilities to employers , so that they can fund apprenticeships during difficult financial times.
In a parliamentary debate on apprenticeships, Lord Sugar, Labour’s former enterprise champion, said that school leavers who go on to college or training facilities come out of them “unemployable and unskilled”.
“Right now the Government and the taxpayer are playing out something of a charade by providing a place for young people to hide for a while,” he argued.
“From my experience of taking on young people from college or other so-called training facilities, when they enter my company they know nothing.”
He has called on the Government to move money away from further education and instead find ways to encourage businesses to take on apprentices, during a time when most companies are tightening their budgets because of the recession.
“There are people in the Government who are clever enough to work out ways either to create tax breaks or to award grants to companies, small and large, instead of what I consider to be blowing the money on these so-called further education facilities,” he added.
Recent changes to the minimum wage mean that workers who are employed under a contract of apprenticeship, or under a government apprenticeship arrangement, have to be paid £2.50 an hour.
For insight into the contestants on Lord Sugar’s reality TV show, The Apprentice, read Personnel Today’s blog The Apprentice Analysed.
| XpertHR information for employers on apprentices |
