Apprenticeships On The Increase In City

Apprenticeships in Cambridge are on the increase with 2,190* people joining a training programme between August 2011 and January 2012.

This new figure comes on top of record numbers of apprentices in the city last year – 1,630 apprentices were on a training programme in 2011/12 an increase of 53 per cent on the previous year.

The news has been welcomed by Cambridge MP Julian Huppert who says the programmes are vital if people are to be given the chance of full-time employment.

“Apprenticeships are extremely valuable in teaching our people the skills which employers are looking for in new recruits,” said Julian. “By working closely with education providers such as Cambridge Regional College, employers can help to train people to make a much-needed contribution to the workplace.

“In return, employers have people who are trained from the very beginning to meet their specific requirements and who can help to grow their businesses.”

Through the government’s Regional Growth Fund the Eastern region and the South East have benefited from a £92 million investment creating a total of 10,214 jobs.

“For this region to continue to be successful, people need the skills and experience to take advantage of new jobs being created in the area,” added Julian. “Apprenticeships offer these skills while at the same time helping companies to be more productive.”

To support more employers, especially small businesses, to take on apprentices, the Coalition Government has taken a number of measures: a) Offering employers with up to 50 employees an incentive payment of £1,500 to take on apprentices aged 16-24. This will encourage small employers to take on up to 20,000 apprentices, b) Streamlining processes so that it takes just a month for an employer to advertise for an apprentice, and c) Ensuring that the National Apprenticeship Service better supports the needs of small employers – through more effectively targeted advice and guidance and helping training providers work more effectively with local SMEs.

*- Figures for the period August 2011 – January 2012 are based on data from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and are provisional and provide an early view of the number of apprentices for the academic year 2011/12.

You're hired! Council prepares to sign up its apprentices

Cambridge City Council’s new recruits will start work on May 3 under a new apprenticeship scheme designed to give 12 teenagers valuable training and clean up the environment at the same time. 

The scheme has been launched in partnership with cutting edge training company, Nordic Pioneer, which will start recruiting the apprentices next week.

After initial training at the end of this month, they will be taken on by the city council cleaning up nature reserves, commons and cemeteries and removing fly tipping, graffiti and fly posting.

The scheme will be partly funded with £10,000 raised from Fixed Penalty Notices issued for environmental crime such as dropping littler, graffiti and fly-tipping.

Aged between 16 and 18, the young people will work with members of the council's Streets and Open Spaces service delivery team and the scheme will lead to an NVQ level 2 in Cleaning and Support Services and six months of work experience.

The scheme ties in with the national drive to expand apprenticeships after the coalition government gave an extra £50,000 over four years to create 250,000 more apprenticeships.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Waste and Environmental Services, Mike Pitt said: “We are very excited about this scheme and looking forward to welcoming the young people to our team.

“This is a chance for them to learn skills and a nationally recognised qualification which hopefully will help them to secure permanent work in the future.”

Teenagers' clean break thanks to council partnership

Twelve teenagers will be given the chance to take part in a six month apprenticeship scheme thanks to an innovative Cambridge City Council partnership approved at today's Environment Scrutiny Committee.

The Lib Dem-run council is teaming up with cutting edge training company, Nordic Pioneer to give the young people aged between 16 and 18 training in cleaning up the environment.

The scheme will be partly funded with £10,000 raised from Fixed Penalty Notices issued for environmental crime such as dropping littler, graffiti and fly-tipping.

Apprentices will work cleaning up nature reserves, commons and cemeteries and remove fly tipping, graffiti and fly posting among other tasks.

Their apprentices will work with members of the council's Streets and Open Spaces service delivery team and the scheme will lead to an NVQ level 2 in Cleaning and Support Services and six months of work experience.

Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Waste and Environmental Services, Mike Pitt (pictured) said: "This is an exciting opportunity for young people to learn valuable skills and gain a nationally recognised qualification while caring for the environment around them. We are confident that this scheme will help the youngsters to find permanent employment in the future."