28/2/12
SkillsActive strongly welcomes the Government’s ‘payment-by-results’ youth employment scheme for under-18s, announced by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
The scheme, part of the Youth Contract announced in Autumn 2011, allocates £126 million towards 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in employment or education (NEET). It will invite bids for contracts worth up to £2,200 for each teenager who can be sustained in work, education or training for 12 months.
Suki Kalirai, interim CEO of SkillsActive, the skills council for the sport and active leisure sector, says: “The sport and active leisure sector is perfect for NEETs. Twenty-nine percent of the sector’s workforce is aged 16-24 and we offer highly attractive job roles that can help get many of the now 1 million unemployed 16 to 24 year olds off the dole queue.
“This latest initiative offers a much needed career lifeline and helps employers to source enthusiastic, skilled talent for their workforce. I urge employers in our sector to take up this opportunity to develop their workforce, reduce business costs and help alleviate the nation’s unemployment crisis, by taking on apprentices and using one of SkillsActive’s 13 different Apprenticeship frameworks.”
The number of apprentices in the sport and active leisure sector has increased 600% in the past five years; SkillsActive issued 9,342 Apprenticeship certificates in the year ending September 2011, up from 1,271 in 2006.
There are 13 Apprenticeship frameworks available in the sport and active leisure sector in England, covering job roles as diverse as activity leadership, playwork and spectator safety. SkillsActive has designed each framework in consultation with sector employers, to ensure they provide the skills businesses need.
To learn more about Apprenticeships in the sport and active leisure sector, and how your business can benefit, please visit www.skillsactive.com/takethelead
To hire a work ready, qualified Future Jobs Fund graduate please visit www.activegradates.com
