The plight of unemployed young people in Cannock — which has the worst jobs figures in Staffordshire — is to come under the spotlight as council bosses urge local businesses to take on more apprentices.

Almost 10 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds in Cannock are not in work or education — nearly twice that of the rest of Staffordshire. Now council bosses are backing the Government’s Skills for Sustainable Growth initiative which puts the onus on the private sector to take on apprentices.

In a report to the district council, Cannock’s economic development manager Glenn Watson described unemployment among under-24s in the town as “serious and persistent”.

He urged cabinet members to consider action as a matter of priority.

The cause is being championed by Councillor Ray Jones, chairman of the economic development committee, who did a five-year engineering apprenticeship at aircraft manufacturers Boulton Paul in Wolverhampton in the 1950s.

He said: “Apprenticeships are a good breeding ground for industry. When I was at Boulton Paul, out of a workforce of 200 to 300, around 90 were apprentices.

“I am 100 per cent behind the Government’s bid to expand the scheme across the private sector. Unfortunately the public sector is under too much pressure, with so many job losses.”

Councillor Jones, now an NVQ assessor at Wolverhampton College, said the apprenticeship programmes needed to be long-term to give people time to decide what to specialise in.

Two years ago Cannock Chase was named as one of 10 UK local authority areas with the sharpest increases in those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.