Taxpayers should pay part of their salaries to young apprentices, according to Reform UK plans, external aimed at achieving a “skills revolution”.
The party’s education spokesperson Suella Braverman said a reformist government would introduce an “apprenticeship wage credit” that would offer small and medium-sized businesses a 30% rebate on the wages of apprentices they hire aged 16 to 18.
He also advised students receiving their GCSE exam results on Thursday “not to get ripped off by the big university scam” and instead learn a trade.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants teenagers to have technical routes into careers that can rival the path of a traditional university degree.
The government has been making changes and examining ways to encourage more young people to work, including giving some parents benefits of up to £4,500 a year to encourage their children to take up apprenticeships.
Former minister Alan Milburn has been tasked with investigating why so many young people are not in work, education or training (known by the acronym Neets).
Reform said its announcement was the first in a series of proposals aimed at reaching 600,000 apprenticeship starts a year by the end of the next Parliament, probably in 2034.
The party says it would pay for its plans by banning all foreign students from accessing taxpayer-funded loans and stopping what the party calls “Mickey Mouse degrees.”
Reform said its policy, which also includes a £2,000 retention bonus for apprentices, could cost between £1.48 billion and almost £2 billion over five years.
Braverman said there are “an inordinate number of graduates with qualifications that do not match the skills needed for our country”, and argued that learning a trade would be a better use of their time.
Apprentices generally receive a lower salary, but receive on-the-job training and practical work experience.
At a press conference, Braverman said: “We are firing the starting gun to unleash a technical and vocational renaissance of local skills.
“Reform will do this not because it fills us with some jingoistic pride, but because we will do whatever it takes to save Britain from the perpetual vicious circle of decay, debt and despair in which we currently find ourselves.”
The MP said the apprenticeship wage credit would allow businesses to save an average of £4,000 a year per apprentice.
The £2,000 tax-free retention bonus would be paid to workers who “demonstrate loyalty” by staying with the company that trained them for at least two years after completing their apprenticeship, Braverman said.
When asked if the policy would mean some colleges would have to close, Braverman said he did not foresee that, instead suggesting colleges should be “repurposed” into construction colleges and manufacturing colleges.
When pressed for examples of “Mickey Mouse titles,” Braverman pointed to “gender studies” and “golf course studies.”
She said: “There is no need, there is no value in many of these titles.”
The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) previously criticized Braverman for similar comments, which they called “negligent and potentially harmful.”
BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton said: “Golf course management is a growing industry with currently more vacancies than qualified applicants.
“Anyone who successfully pursues a career in this field is effectively guaranteed employment in a vibrant industry.”
A Labor Party spokesperson said all young people “deserve a clear pathway to a good career”, whether through “a properly funded apprenticeship, a high-quality technical education or university”.
The spokesperson added: “That’s exactly what this Labor government is already delivering, with 500,000 new jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities to help young people earn money or learn, including a guaranteed job for 18 to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for 18 months.”
On Wednesday, Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said there is demand for apprenticeships but claimed the Labor government is “not doing enough to boost supply”.
She said: “Our New Deal for Young People would scrap dead-end degrees that don’t lead to jobs and instead invest in apprenticeships that give school leavers more choice.”
Liberal Democrat universities spokesman Ian Sollom said it was important to protect local colleges and universities, as well as boost learning, including learning on degree courses.
“The reform proposals amount to dangerous economic vandalism that would blow a billion-pound hole in our world-leading university sector,” he added.
Green Party MP Hannah Spencer, who was a plumber before becoming an MP, said: “People are tired of reform pitting us against each other. Those of us who did apprenticeships can still see the value of qualifications and everyone should be able to choose their own educational path.”
She added that the Greens had announced a windfall tax on big banks, which she said would support small businesses that employ more young people.
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