Scottish Labour leadership candidate Joe Fagan MSP has demanded that Scotland’s share of the Growth and Skills Levy is fully committed to apprenticeships, upskilling and reskilling as his fourth test for the Scottish Government’s Budget.
Mr Fagan said the Scottish Government must provide clear figures showing how much levy funding comes to Scotland and guarantee that the money is spent on skills and apprenticeships.
The Scottish Training Federation says apprenticeship funding rates have been frozen since 2015, while 37 organisations have withdrawn from delivering Modern Apprenticeships over the past six years.
Mr Fagan’s four Budget tests are now:
• Give communities the powers and funding to bring buses back into public control.
• Deliver a minimum £15-an-hour rate for social care workers and better terms and conditions.
• Increase core funding for local government, alongside an additional £750 million for social care.
• Commit Scotland’s share of the Growth and Skills Levy to apprenticeships, upskilling and reskilling.
Candidate for Scottish Labour Leader Joe Fagan MSP said:
“My fourth Budget test is fair funding for apprenticeships.
“Employers are paying into the levy and that money should be going into training people for good, skilled jobs.
“Instead, funding rates have been frozen for more than a decade and training providers are walking away.
“Thirty-seven organisations have stopped delivering Modern Apprenticeships in the last six years.
“That should worry anyone who is serious about Scotland’s economy.
“We cannot talk about growth, new industries and better jobs while starving the skills system of the investment it needs.
“An apprenticeship can give someone a trade, a decent wage and a future in their own community.
“It can also give employers the skilled workers they are crying out for.
“Scottish Labour already committed to ringfencing Scotland’s share of levy funding for apprenticeships, upskilling and reskilling.
“We should fight for that now.
“The Scottish Government should tell us how much Scotland receives from the levy and commit every penny of that funding to skills.
“My first three Budget tests were about public transport, fair pay for care workers and proper funding for councils.
“This one is about investing in working people and giving them the skills to build Scotland’s future.”