Thousands of “fast track” apprenticeships will be created for nuclear power stations, railways, battery factories and other public projects under plans to speed up delivery.
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said he had instructed Skills England, which approves courses, to sign off new apprenticeship schemes within three months for major infrastructure projects.
“Speed is very important,” he said. “We need to make it much faster to get these courses approved so these projects can get the staff they need.”
About 950,000 young people aged 16-24 are not in employment, education or training, up from 650,000 in 2021. McFadden said more than 30% of young people on universal credit now report that sickness is the reason they are not working, and 80% of those who say they are sick report either a mental health or a neurodivergent condition.
The work and pensions secretary said that many more young people who have been diagnosed with these conditions could and should be working.
“Whatever the prevalence, the big concerning thing from my point of view is if that is leading to people saying: ‘I’ve got this, so I can’t work.’ I think more of them can work, and I think that the system will need reforming to make young people a better offer.”
Under the new plans, companies running major infrastructure projects will be expected to hire apprentices as part of their contract with the government. “When the state steps up and says, ‘We’re going to put money into this or help to make it happen,’ we want as part of that to have the social value of training up local people,” he said.
It typically takes 18 months to get specialist apprenticeships and courses approved. “Britain takes too long to get things built – too long from the approval to the spades in the ground and the thing actually happening,” McFadden said.
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He was speaking after meeting apprentices on a visit to the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. The company takes on 50 local young people as apprentices every year, and there is a 98% retention rate after the four-year training course. One family has three generations working at the firm, all of whom joined as apprentices.
“Apprenticeships are good for the individual because it’s a great way to learn a skill that can stay with you for the rest of your life,” McFadden said. “And they’re good for the country because it is in all our interests to equip young people for the future.”
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The government has announced plans to spend £725m on creating an extra 50,000 apprenticeships. The work and pensions secretary insisted he did not want to discourage people from going to university. “I think it’s really important, and so I will not join the voices of those who say that sending young people into higher education is wrong,” he said. “What I want is more than one route.”
There has been an almost 40% decline in apprenticeships among young people in the last decade. McFadden said the government was changing the financial incentives to make it more advantageous to hire young apprentices. Small companies hiring an apprentice under the age of 25 will have the training costs covered in full.
Under a new “youth guarantee”, jobs will be subsidised for young people who have been out of work for more than 18 months. Employers will have the cost of 25 hours a week funded for six months at the minimum wage.
McFadden said there needed to be much greater “urgency” around tackling the problem of youth unemployment. “Work is often the answer. Work is what will give you pride and purpose,” he said.
Nigel Cann, CEO of Sizewell C, said the nuclear power station would be recruiting 1,500 apprentices over the course of construction. “Apprentices are the lifeblood of a project like ours,” he said. “Accelerating routes into apprenticeships means accelerating opportunity, social mobility and growth.”