SCOTTISH Labour will plough £36 million into boosting apprenticeships in key sectors should it win power at Holyrood, party leader Anas Sarwar has pledged.

He accused the SNP government of “consigning young people to the scrapheap” by only giving Skills Development Scotland enough funding for 25,000 places, rather than the 34,000 demanded by colleges and companies suffering skills shortages.

Pledging to bridge the funding gap through a “reform of Scotland’s agency landscape,” Mr Sawar said: “Young people are missing out, businesses are being held back and our nation’s ambitions are being undermined.

“If we are going to tackle the housing emergency, win the global race on green jobs and strengthen our national security, we need the skilled workers to do it, but young people are being turned away from these opportunities.

“The SNP’s story is one of missed opportunities and squandered potential, but this is not as good as it gets.

“A Scottish Labour government will step up where the SNP has failed, fix Scotland’s broken skills system and create opportunities for all.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.