No gain from training scheme

THE need to create jobs for the young, whether they be school-leavers, A-level students without an university place or graduates, is an urgent one. It is compounded, particularly here in Yorkshire, by the fragile nature of the private sector recovery – companies are reluctant to take on apprentices and such like.

In many respects, the Train to Gain scheme was uniquely placed and equipped to fill this void. It was a means of providing young workers with a job, and the skills, to begin their careers. Its purpose, since its inception in 2006, was a sound one: to provide employers with a better qualified workforce to boost economic performance.

Yet, like so many Labour-inspired initiatives, levels of expenditure soon reached scandalous proportions, and the financial burden – 1.5bn over four years – quickly outweighed the supposed economic benefits of Train to Gain.

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It is little wonder that this initiative is being scaled back. The Business Minister has branded it as "a deadweight cost" while the National Audit Office's critique was equally disparaging, and with every good reason. It became nonsensical that the taxpayer was picking up the bill for training that the company would have provided the staff members concerned without any form of subsidy.

However, the cuts still leave the wider issue of youth training to be resolved, an issue which will become even more pertinent this week when teenagers receive their GCSE results and decide whether to continue their education or seek a suitable job.

It has already been documented that there are simply not enough places at universities, colleges or school sixth-forms. Equally, there is a dearth of new jobs in this region.

The Government should be providing incentives for firms to take on young recruits, either through tax breaks or enterprise zones, to help counter this social challenge. The problem is that Ministers have become so obsessed with cuts that they are in danger of ignoring the importance of creating new jobs.