THE managing director of Print Scotland has told Packaging Scotland of the importance of ending the funding disparity that exists for print apprentices north of the border.
The organisation recently welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of a review of Modern Apprenticeship (MA) contribution rates, which will assess whether current public funding remains fair, sustainable, and aligned with sector and labour market needs.
For years, Print Scotland has highlighted the gap faced by Scottish print apprentices compared with those in England – where it says comparable apprenticeships attract funding closer to £10,000, versus £3,200 (ages 16–19) and £1,200 (ages 19–24) in Scotland. This has placed Scottish employers and training providers at a distinct disadvantage.
Garry Richmond, MD of Print Scotland, said, “We would like to see increased funding but also a review of allocation as some frameworks receive more than others. For example, a signmaking apprentice is funded at twice the rate of a print apprentice despite a high proportion of skills and training unit crossover.”
Regarding the funding disparities, Print Scotland has previously warned of a potential ‘skills cliff edge’ across print, packaging and labels.
“The funding is currently set at about a third of the rate of England and Wales and young persons aged 20 or over are further penalised with a much-reduced training grant, leaving employers with no option but to fund the balance for more mature candidates,” Garry explained. “We understand that an apprentice scheme is about getting young people into work, but employers prefer slightly maturer candidates who are settled and want to build a career.”
Garry added that indigenous industries over 100-years-old are still vital to the economy but often struggle to attract young people – sometimes due to simple affordability. He revealed the wage burden of carrying trainees can be difficult to sustain in an economy that has had several shocks over the past five years.
“Most companies are currently running with a high average age, with many (employees) set to retire in the next few years. If these skills are not replaced soon, not only will companies struggle, but the job market will become an employees’ market as companies compete to fill vacancies.”
Asked what the Scottish Government should be doing to incentivise companies to take on apprentices, Garry concluded, “The government may contribute to apprentice training but the schemes to contribute to wage support are practically non-existent. In my opinion there would be a far bigger uptake of apprentices across the board if there was some easy to access employment cost support.
“This would help mitigate the additional wage burden companies experience when training to replace employees.”
