Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 13 October 2021.
A reference was made by Jenny Rathbone during questions to the First Minister yesterday regarding the acute shortage of apprenticeships in the construction sector, and figures from the Construction Industry Training Board show a decline of 20 per cent over the past year. I've received correspondence from many young people in my constituency who need an apprenticeship to secure their qualification but are unable to find one. One young person phoned every electrician in Carmarthenshire and was unable to find an apprenticeship. I've been referred by the Minister for Economy to the Government's browsing website, Find an Apprenticeship, and I tried myself to find apprenticeships in all fields across Wales. Only 107 apprenticeships throughout Wales are available at the moment on that portal. Clearly, that's insufficient for young people in my constituency and throughout Wales. Isn't there an opportunity to resolve the situation by talking and providing resources to local authorities that have the connections with local businesses and local knowledge in order to incentivise them to offer the apprenticeships that are needed?