Infrastructure construction company Balfour Beatty has urged the government to make sure apprentices in Scotland are not vulnerable to losing their jobs before finishing their training.

Tim Clarke, divisional managing director of Balfour Beatty Construction Scotland, called on local and national politicians to protect apprenticeships more, the Scotsman newspaper reported.

He said contractors currently lose out on opportunities to hire long-term apprentices because of the short-term set-up of jobs from local authorities.

And his comments were welcomed by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF), who said public contracts should include community benefit clauses as a matter of course.

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Mr Clarke said: "If we all agree, can we please have it written in somewhere that public procurement values the number of youngsters seen through permanently rather than this rascal’s game of starting youngsters to get your statistics, then sacking them."

Michael Levack of the SBF said: "All credit to Balfour Beatty for speaking out and calling for more robust clauses in public construction contracts to ensure young people are able to complete their training. It's one reason why the construction industry has been campaigning so hard for the systematic inclusion of community benefit clauses in public contracts. These would recognise the creation of sustainable local training and employment opportunities as a key criterion for selecting a contractor. The public sector has a real opportunity here to lead by example."

Mr Levack emphasised that the construction industry was the "backbone" of the apprenticeship system in Scotland, and called for improved legislation.

(NE)