Calderdale apprenticeship push to read benefits with more 'home grown' staff

As Calderdale recovers from COVID, a key council strategy is to promote apprenticeships, including offering some to its own looked-after children.

Recently scrutiny councillors heard how a council apprenticeship can be the start of a career with the council in which young people can progress – a former council apprentice, who now who is now a health and safety adviser for the authority, told them his story, said Coun Diana Tremayne (Lab, Todmorden).

She asked Cabinet member for Resources, Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) how council apprenticeships had been affected through the COVID-19 pandemic and how successful the council had been in recruiting its own looked-after children into apprenticeships.

Coun Dacre said the pandemic affected apprenticeships across the country for obvious reasons – it was difficult for people to recruit, it was difficult for people to look for apprenticeships.

In terms of the council, it could not do the outreach work and numbers fell, she said.

“That’s really why as we hope we may have got over the worst the council has a plan to really pick up on apprenticeships again and pick up on recruitment again,” said Coun Dacre.

She said a number of apprenticeships were available with the council.

“The way the council deals with recruiting is that they try their best to reach difficult groups, so they will to schools, they will try and engage with children to try and encourage them to see the council as somewhere they would want to be employed,” said Coun Dacre.

In terms of the council’s own looked-after children, there had been a history of recruiting them into apprenticeships and these opportunities would continue to be provided.

There were many people working in the authority who started as apprenticeships and worked their way up into more senior positions, said Coun Dacre.

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