Lisburn to spend £92k on six positions under new council-led apprenticeship programme

Councillors were presented with a report at a Corporate Services committee on June 9.

At present, public authorities in Northern Ireland are not eligible to avail of funded apprenticeships.

It means that LCCC have to pay further education colleges directly for the six places and they will be the first council across the country to offer such a programme.

Under the new scheme, the council has committed to a range of positions across several areas including HR, finance, IT, marketing, parks and amenities, and waste and operational services.

The Level 2, Level 3 and Higher Level apprenticeships courses will be on offer for students.

Council officer Caroline Magee said the new programme was an “exciting venture” for the Lisburn Castlereagh City Council.

Chairman of the committee, councillor John Laverty said that Lisburn Castlereagh was “leading the way” with council apprenticeships.

He said: “I would commend the team that have got us this far and it’s an exciting opportunity for us to be promoting such a programme and I am looking forward to seeing how we progress this and hopefully we will be able to exceed the numbers as this goes forward.”

Alliance’s alderman Amanda Grehan said it was “absolutely fantastic news for the council.”

“I am delighted that we are the first council in Northern Ireland that has decided to push on with this,” said the north Lisburn elected representative.

The council said it hopes to advertise the roles in the coming weeks with a start of September 2021.