EDM 1626: Apprenticeships strategy

That this House believes that the scandal of low pay for apprentices must end and that apprentices need pay above the national living wage, covered by Collective Bargaining; is concerned that many apprenticeships are offered on fixed-term contracts, meaning there is no guaranteed offer of employment to follow; recognises that apprenticeships can be used as a cheap unit of labour without the full employment rights expected in other contractual work; is further concerned that outsourced training and education facilities are often inadequate and substandard; further recognises that not nearly enough new apprentices are being taken on in the rail industry and by the National Skills Academy for Rail, when over 5,000 each year are required to replace those nearing retirement; applauds the RMT union’s recent publication of an Apprenticeships Charter; realises the need for growth targets for the industry with specific regard to skills gaps and the establishment of a new, centralised and fully-funded in-house Apprentice and Young Workers Railway Training Scheme; and calls on the Government to set an ambitious and fully-funded apprenticeship strategy to deliver these measures, involving Great British Railways to promote a pathway for uniformed, overalled and back-office apprenticeships that offer job guarantees, permanent contracts and workers’ rights from day one.