Government axed paid internship scheme last week

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

There’s a brilliant story in the Times(£) this morning that will make uncomfortable reading for Nick Clegg and Vince Cable. It appears that last week – just five days before Nick Clegg’s assault on unpaid internships – Cable shut down a government scheme that was providing paid internships. The Times reports:

“Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, closed a scheme to help small businesses offer salaried work experience five days before Nick Clegg announced that he wanted to widen access to internships, The Times has learnt.”

“The Graduate Internship Scheme began in February 2010 and helped to create 8,060 paid internships in seven priority sectors such as low-carbon services, pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing.”

“Two thirds of the internships were in small businesses and more than three quarters were outside London.”

“The scheme, administered via the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFC), meant that employers received £1,600 towards each internship, with the business contributing the rest and ensuring that the intern received at least the minimum wage.”

The article goes on to note that the Federation of Small Businesses had urged the government to retain the scheme – set nup by Labour in February 2010 – before the budget, but they were rebuffed.

Not only is this an example of the government failing to work in a “joined-up” way, it also shows the lack of preparation and research that Clegg’s team are putting in. The loss of Short money,. and therefore staff, from Lib Dem HQ appears to be hitting them hard.