SNIPEF

SNIPEF President John Doherty and Stephanie Lowe, SNIPEF Deputy Chief Executive, recently met with Marie McNair MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie at his business in Clydebank to discuss and highlight the increasing challenges of recruiting apprentices into the plumbing and heating profession.

The meeting, held as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week, aimed to highlight the vital role apprenticeship programmes play in shaping the future workforce and provided a key opportunity to discuss the financial and logistical challenges businesses encounter when hiring apprentices.

The discussion focused on the increasing financial burden on employers. While apprentices are exempt from National Insurance contributions, rising employer NICs and national minimum wage increases have significantly raised employment costs. As apprentices spend about 13% of their time in college, employers must absorb substantial costs while ensuring the delivery of on-the-job training.

Without sufficient recruitment, the profession risks being unable to meet domestic and commercial demand, as well as failing to provide the workforce needed to support Scotland’s transition to low-carbon heating solutions such as heat pumps.

Reducing financial barriers, offering targeted incentives to businesses and reinforcing the long-term benefits of apprenticeships were highlighted as essential to ensuring the profession remains strong, sustainable and capable of meeting both current and future challenges.