Supporting rural economies

Companies in eleven rural areas will be eligible for additional support to help them employ Modern Apprentices.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed eligible areas for the Rural Supplement ahead of visiting I A & C Maciver in Stornoway, who employ two Modern Apprentices, on the first day of Scottish Apprenticeship Week.

Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2017 focuses on the benefits apprenticeships bring to businesses, individuals and the Scottish economy.

She said:

“Rural communities are vital to Scotland’s economy so it is important they get the support to recruit and retain employees, including Modern Apprentices.

“We recognise employers and trainers can incur additional costs when delivering Modern Apprenticeships in more remote areas. That is why we have introduced the Rural Supplement – to ensure young people in some of the more remote parts of Scotland are not disadvantaged when it comes to accessing apprenticeships.

“Modern Apprenticeships provide excellent opportunities for young people to enter the world of work and they are central to our ambition to develop a world class vocational education system that matches our world class, and free, system of higher education.”

“We are on schedule to meet the challenging target of 26,000 new starts this year as we work towards our commitment of at least 30,000 new Modern Apprenticeship starts per year by 2020.”

Background
The local authority areas where training providers will be able to access the supplement are:
• Argyll and Bute
• Highland
• Moray
• Orkney
• Shetland
• Western Isles
• Isle of Arran (North Ayrshire)
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Scottish Borders
• Aberdeenshire
• Perth and Kinross

The Rural Supplement was announced in December.

The Rural Supplement will be delivered as part of the block grant Skills Development Scotland receives from the Scottish Government, and they will be closely monitoring uptake.