Highland Council plan to help apprentices

The new company will create a pool of apprentices

Highland Council is to set up a new company to bring together a pool of apprentices that could be hired by local construction companies.

The scheme could provide work for up to 20 people every year and the council hopes that it will reverse a decline in apprenticeships in the private sector.

The local authority said that between 2008-12, 192 apprentices had lost their jobs in the Highlands.

The new company will be called Highland Shared Apprentice Scheme Ltd.

CITB Construction Skills will help to run it.

Highland Council already takes on apprentices to work within its services.

Two years ago, the local authority encouraged women to apply for its apprenticeships.

At the time the council had six vacancies in its housing and property building maintenance team and was offering apprenticeships in plumbing, electrical, joinery, building and painting.