AUDIO NEWS: The Tories promises to double number of apprenticeships and BUS applications drop by 11%

Tories pledge to double the number of apprentices, applications for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme drop 11% in January and scaffolder left seriously injured after fall

The Conservative Party intends to double the number of apprentices as part of plans to overhaul the education system.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claims she will cut university entrants by 100,000 places, while funding the same number of apprenticeships for 18-to-21-year-olds.

The Conservative Party estimates the move would save £3.6 billion.

The Tory leader, who herself completed an engineering apprenticeship, warned young people were getting into debt at university and not necessarily getting a better job, than if they’d taken on apprenticeship.

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Applications for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) dropped by 11% year-on-year in January.

Government figures suggest that the introduction of new technologies to the scheme, such as air-to-air heat pumps, had not pushed up the total volume of applications.

Sachin Vibhute, technical consultant and product training manager, with LG Electronics said the government’s £2.7 billion investment into heat pump installations hadn’t “resonated as expected.”

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A scaffolder has been left unable to pick up his newborn son due to the injuries he sustained while at work. 

Steven Gilmore fell from height when he lifted a metal bar and it touched an overhead cable, while on site.

40-year-old Gilmore who has received a civil payout from his employer said he felt a lot more passionate about health and safety following his accident.

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