A shock new report from SNIPEF, the Plumbing and Heating Federation, has revealed that one in three employers in the sector do not intend to recruit an apprentice over the next three years.
The trade body said the projected decline marks a clear break from historic recruitment patterns and raises serious concerns about whether Scotland will have the skilled workforce required to meet future public safety and decarbonisation demands.
The findings, published in SNIPEF’s Apprenticeships Under Pressure report, draw on the views of employers across Scotland’s plumbing and heating profession. While employers remain committed to high training standards, SNIPEF said rising costs and financial pressures are making apprenticeship recruitment increasingly unaffordable. The top barriers identified are limited funding support (67%), high wage costs (65%), and the cost of workplace supervision (47%).
More than three quarters (77%) of respondents rate current Scottish Government support as poor or inadequate, while 93% say increased funding is the single change needed to make recruitment viable. A majority (62%) also believe costs should be shared equally between employers and government.
Fiona Hodgson, chief executive of SNIPEF, said, “Plumbing and heating employers have a long history of supporting apprenticeships. Many of today’s business owners came through the system themselves and know the value it brings to young people, to the profession and to Scotland’s wider economy. But they are being asked to carry more and more of the burden while government support has not kept pace with the reality on the ground.
“We cannot expect employers to absorb these pressures indefinitely. When the financial risk becomes too high, fewer businesses take on apprentices, and it is young people who lose out. Scotland cannot afford to close off one of the most effective routes into skilled work, good careers and genuine social mobility.”
The publication comes as the UK Government announces 50,000 new apprenticeship places in England, backed by a £725 million reform package that will remove the 5% co-investment cost for small and medium-sized employers training under-25 apprentices. These measures apply only in England, where technical apprenticeships already attract higher funding.
SNIPEF added that employers in England can also draw on unused Apprenticeship Levy funds to help cover training costs. By contrast, Scottish employers cannot access levy receipts in this way.
Fiona Hodgson added, “The UK Government has sent a clear signal that apprenticeships are a national priority, with reforms designed to help employers pay less towards training, carry less risk and access more visible support. In Scotland, employers already rely on government to fund college training, but they have no direct access to unused levy funds and no equivalent mechanisms to channel surplus contributions directly into front-line apprenticeship places.
“If Scotland does not match this clarity and ambition, there is a real risk that our businesses will feel less supported and that young people here will see fewer visible opportunities than their peers elsewhere in the UK.”
