98% of 'new' Government apprentices are existing trainees

Monday, May 18 2009New Government figures show that just thirty of the 1,395 people being trained on Labour’s flagship apprenticeship scheme are new employees.

The remaining trainees – 98 per cent of those on the scheme – were already employed in central Government prior to becoming apprentices.

David Willetts, the Shadow Innovation, Universities and Skills Secretary, said the figures cast “grave doubts” on Labour’s ability to deliver on their promise to increase the number of public sector apprentices.

And he accused Labour Ministers of being “so concerned with chasing headlines that they seem to have simply renamed existing trainees”:

“As the recession bites, it is more important than ever to create new training opportunities. Ministers re-labelling workplace training as apprenticeships in order to meet targets helps no one.”