ANKARA
The leader of the center-right Conservative Party announced Tuesday that he would use fines imposed on banks involved in illegal financial manipulation to fund 50,000 new apprenticeships.
Speaking in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, "We're going to take the fines from the banks who tried to rig markets - and we're going to use them to train young people and to get them off the dole and into work."
Last week, Deutsche Bank was fined a combined total of £1.66 billion ($2.53 billion) by U.S. and U.K. regulators for rigging interbank lending rates, £227 million ($346.8 million) of which was demanded by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.
According to recently passed legislation, all fines imposed on banks by regulators are sent to the Treasury. The money is required to be spent on "good causes," as opposed to, for example, reducing regulatory fees.
The proposal would cost £200 million ($305.8 million) and would remain in force for the first three years of a Conservative government.
It would be open to 22-24-year-olds who have been unemployed for more than six months. Those who refuse the offer will be forced to do community work.
“This is also about creating the right pro-enterprise economy… by focusing on long-term youth unemployment we are giving real opportunities to these young people," Conservative Treasury official Priti Patel told BBC Radio 4.
Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary for the center-left main opposition Labour Party, claimed that the number of young people starting apprenticeships had fallen by almost a quarter since the Conservative-led coalition came to power in 2010.
Labour have previously pledged to guarantee by 2020 an apprenticeship for every young person in England who gains level 3 qualifications, the equivalent of two A-Levels.
Private companies bidding for public sector contracts would be required to divert money from in-house training towards the two-year apprenticeships.
"We've seen the quality of apprenticeships undermined. One in five apprentices is receiving no formal training, while almost four in ten firms are unaware the in-work training they provide is branded as an apprenticeship by the government,” Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said.
"The Tories (Conservatives) have failed to match Labour's plans to guarantee an apprenticeship place for every school leaver who gets the grades, use government procurement to create thousands of new apprenticeship opportunities and safeguard apprenticeship quality,” he added.
