A £2000 incentive for employers to 'adopt' an apprentice made redundant due to the economic climate has kept 600 young people in work over the past year.

Skills Minister Keith Brown will meet Ian Ramsey today, a young apprentice who was made redundant and 'adopted' through the Scottish Government's 'Adopt an Apprentice' scheme last year by Ballina Construction in Edinburgh.

The scheme, which is delivered by Skills Development Scotland, enabled Ian to continue working toward an Modern Apprenticeship qualification in Carpentry and Joinery.

Mr Brown said: "Ian is just one of hundreds of success stories of young apprentices being saved from unemployment and taken on by a company through the incentivised Adopt an Apprenticeship scheme.

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"We are committed to supporting young people into work which is why we invested more than £200 million in Skills Development Scotland last year we delivered more than 20,000 modern apprenticeships.

"Our scheme to adopt redundant apprentices is a further safeguard against the effects of the downturn and recession and I am delighted that it has kept 600 apprentices in training and work.

"The apprenticeship programme continues to play a key role in ensuring that we have the skills and capacity required to support and grow the Scottish economy now and in the future. Many individuals and businesses are still feeling the impacts of the recession and I'm delighted that Adopt an Apprentice will continue to support apprentices through to March 2011."

Damien Yeates, Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland, said: "The Adopt an Apprentice initiative gives people who have experienced redundancy in the current economic climate a second chance to complete their training.

"SDS has been working with employers across the country on this initiative to ensure that, together, we can offer as many workers as possible the vital opportunity to become time-served in their particular trade. It's an important part of our drive to promote a competitive, skilled workforce in Scotland."

(GK)