Construction union UCATT have strongly criticised the Government's "do nothing approach" to increasing apprenticeship numbers.

The government has responded to a major report into apprenticeships by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

One of the key recommendations of that report was that apprenticeship recruitment should be linked to central and local government public procurement policies and that one additional apprentice should be recruited for every £1 million spent.

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The Government has rejected this recommendation, they said: "In order to avoid any unintended negative consequences, any requirements relating to apprenticeships in public procurement contracts need to be flexible and proportionate, need to deliver good value, and must not be overly prescriptive."

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "The Government's plans to boost apprenticeship numbers is to do nothing. Apprentices are the lifeblood of the construction industry but numbers were declining even when the industry was booming. Unless construction companies are required to train apprentices they won't."

Mr Murphy added: "The failure to train sufficient numbers of construction apprentices is causing long term structural damage to the industry. Skills shortages already exist and these will grow as the industry recovers from recession and requires more workers."

(CD)