A large, American-owned supermarket chain, whose UK headquarters is situated in Leeds, has provided Apprenticeship Levy funding to support the recruitment and training of eleven new Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). They will be deployed by West Yorkshire Police.
The announcement by Tracy Brabin, the West Yorkshire Mayor (pictured above in pink outfit), backs up her pledge, made in 2022, to recruit 750 new police officers and staff.
The Mayor says she is ‘thrilled’ to bring together training providers and businesses like ADSA to start young people on their career path.
Adding: “Our support is helping to bolster the Region’s police force, as we work to build a safer, fairer West Yorkshire for all.
“It was wonderful to meet the apprentices at the start of their exciting new career journeys, and I’m confident they all have bright futures ahead.”
As a large employer, ASDA, founded in 1949 when the entrepreneurial Asquith family merged their retail business with Associated Dairies, is mandated by the Treasury to pay the Apprenticeship Levy – a percentage of its annual payroll which is required be spent on apprenticeships. The Levy was introduced at the start of the 2017/18 tax year and is payable by all employers with annual wage costs of more than £3 million, at a rate of 0.5% of their total.
Hayley Tatum, ASDA’s Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer, comments:
“We have the ability to make a real impact in the communities we serve and are delighted with how our own apprenticeship scheme is progressing.
“We can’t wait to see the positive impacts this investment will have.”
Daisy Speak, one of the new ASDA-funded PCSO recruits, says:
“I applied to be a PCSO because I would like to make a difference in the community and support people that need us the most.
“I also want to try my best to make a difference to people’s perception of the police.
“This course has given me a brilliant opportunity to turn my life around and make a future for me and my children.”
Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Baker, says she is “really looking forward” to welcoming the latest PCSOs, who would make “a valuable contribution to policing as part of the wider West Yorkshire Police family”.
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Page last updated: Tuesday 5th September, 2023 at 17h45
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