TEES Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has pledged to fund the wages of more than 100 apprentices to encourage businesses to offer employment to more 16 to 20-year-olds as part of their coronavirus response.

Mayor Houchen is to provide almost £1m to create new apprenticeships for young people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool in a bid to reverse the dramatic decline in apprenticeship creation as a result of the pandemic.

The money will be used to fund 100 per cent of the apprentices’ wages in their first six months of employment, and 50 per cent for the remainder of the apprenticeship, up to a maximum of two years.

This will provide an incentive to businesses and sectors which have been worst hit by coronavirus to create at least 100 new apprenticeships for 16 to 20-year-olds, and it will also boost youth employment across the Tees Valley, in particular helping those who are not currently in education, employment or training.

A recent survey for the Tees Valley Combined Authority found 69 per cent of businesses who responded stated that they had furloughed apprentices and 35 per cent said they could no longer commit to employing an apprentice.

Businesses who sign up to the scheme will also be asked to pay the national minimum wage, rather than the national apprenticeship wage, where applicable, and the apprentices will also be employed for a minimum of 30 hours a week.

Mayor Houchen said: “The coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for businesses and local workers. As part of my plan for jobs, we need to make sure that our young people who are part way through an apprenticeship can continue with the qualifications, which will help them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, many businesses are now reluctant to commit to offering apprenticeships to young people because of the uncertainty they are currently experiencing and as part of my plan to create local jobs for local people, I’m going to change this. By offering almost £1 million and funding the salaries of more than 100 apprenticeships, we can make sure that our talented young people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool are getting the good high skilled, good quality jobs they deserve and are starting off on the road to a successful career."