FAIR PAY FOR APPRENTICES

That this House believes that apprenticeships are an essential part of the workplace and are an invaluable opportunity for young people to earn a living and learn a trade or profession; recognises the immense contribution that apprenticeship schemes make to individuals' lives, private sector, third sector and public sector organisations, as well as to the wider economy and labour market; further recognises the efforts of employers across Scotland and the rest of the UK to ensure the best in-work training and education for young people; notes with great concern that, due to the failure of the Government to make work pay, apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year of the scheme are only entitled to £2.73 per hour; believes that young adults and apprentices need a pay rise, and that apprentices deserve parity in pay; and calls on the Government to increase the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 21 year olds to £6.86 by 2020 and to ensure that apprentices are entitled to this increased rate of pay.