Below is the transcript of Janet's contribution to the debate in Plenary this week on apprenticeships:
I move amendments 2 and 3 in the name of William Graham.
I strongly acknowledge the benefit of apprenticeships not only in terms of the opportunities for apprentices, but also for Welsh employers, as being a central tenet of Welsh industry. With the level of youth unemployment in Wales at a painful 23.6%, young people are presented with a vicious circle of high unemployment, and, in many cases, a basic lack of the skills deemed necessary to fill particular vacancies. As someone who has spent a lifetime in business, I can remember schemes going back many years, such as the youth training scheme, and the north Wales training agency, which changed the lives of people in my current constituency. It is sad to see that the wheel, although it has been reinvented numerous times over the years, is now still failing to turn as a wheel of success. It is my belief that, over the years, the rise of middle management intervention and of immense bureaucracy and complexity has hindered this process. I know that Eluned referred earlier to the unemployment levels we have seen among the young in particular and how we can work with the figures that we have to get the economy growing and get these people into employment.
For too long, it is fair to say that apprenticeships have been regarded as a lesser means of entering the workforce. I, for one, can categorically state that that could not be further from the truth. The skills, experience, confidence, knowledge and pure raw ambition that can stem from the door of opportunity being allowed to open for an apprentice to go into their chosen field or their preferred field are immense. On the point that you touched on earlier about retraining, where people may have had a good life in industry but find that their skills are, sadly, no longer required, it is really important that we pick that up quickly and ensure that they receive really good retraining so that they can enter the workforce again.
The standard template for accessing employment has always been for young people, in particular, to stay in further education and to enter the workforce following a university degree. This works for some, but Government policy in Wales needs to reflect that this is by no means a one-size-fits-all approach and that we must look to provide for the individuality that exists within us all.
Apprentice and employee training can be somewhat fraught for employers, because of red tape and, in particular, the insurance blame culture that has arisen over recent years. Employers are now struggling with the implications of the liabilities that could possibly be placed on them for merely wanting to take on someone who they want to work alongside with, who they want to and could train and who they could welcome into their practice to bring out their natural talents, which, in turn, would contribute in overall terms to the success of their business, making it a truly win-win situation. Again, Eluned referred to that earlier.
I know that there have been various reports on this, and there has been talk about how we must ask employers to do more to engage. I think that there needs to be a lot more support out there for employers, so that they know how to access apprentices who could enter their line of employment.
On microbusinesses, I know that I have raised this before in the Chamber, and we often talk about small businesses, but there are many microbusinesses that would really be helped if they were encouraged to take on an apprentice. My constituency hosts the only true chocolatier business in Wales, producing chocolate from bean to bar, and there is a situation at the moment where we are trying to get a young lady who is desperately trying to become a chocolatier into any of the existing work programmes. It is an absolute nightmare, because there is no set scheme for a chocolatier. There is a confectionery one, but that does not cover that.
I believe that we need to grasp this nettle once and for all. This is a win-win situation. It is a win-win situation for Wales, for our employees and for our unemployed.