Scottish apprenticeship funding ‘risks losing a generation’

Scotland could suffer the loss of “a generation” of electrical workers because of differences in apprenticeship funding, according to a trade body.

Select, which represents electrical contractors, made the claim after a 15 per cent increase in funding for English electrical apprenticeships was announced.

From 20 July, Installation & Maintenance Electrician apprenticeships will be funded at £23,000 per apprentice training and assessment costs.

The equivalent figure in Scotland is just £8,000, a sum that has not changed for more than seven years.

Select managing director Alan Wilson said that due to inflation this amounted to a 30 per cent real terms cut.

He added: “We cannot begin to have a renewables future in Scotland without electricians, so the Scottish Government must find the cash. A two-tier system is entirely unacceptable.

“Scotland absolutely must not be left behind when it comes to apprenticeship funding. There is the clear danger of a two-tier system, with Scottish industry losing out to England’s, as well as a very real risk that we will lose a generation of skilled electrical talent when we can least afford it.”

Apprenticeships in Scotland are currently offered through Skills Development Scotland but are due to become the responsibility of the Scottish Funding Council from 2026, under Scottish Government proposals announced in January.

Select and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust said they backed the idea in April but called for greater transparency and efficiency in the system.

The apprenticeship-funding warning is the latest in a series of acute skills issues facing the trades in the nation.

Select previously warned that proposed tougher UK immigration rules made it more likely that Scottish construction workers in search of higher wages will head to England to replace foreign workers.

“In areas such as London, it’s estimated that 50 per cent of the workforce are from abroad, so if they leave, Scottish workers are likely to flood south to take up highly paid jobs, leaving the domestic construction sector in crisis,” Wilson said last month.

The Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation said in May that the sector was at “breaking point”, with 69 per cent of businesses north of the border experiencing a low availability of skilled professionals.

Chief executive Fiona Hodgson called for increased funding for employer training incentives, a review of vocational training and SME support, and better alignment between skills policy and Scotland’s decarbonisation targets.

Construction News has approached the Scottish Government for comment.