Shah’s vote goes to apprenticeships

Simon Danczuk MP and Shah Ali

As the sixth National Apprenticeship Week gets under way, 18 year old Shah Ali from Rochdale is delighted that he chose the Apprenticeship route. Shah works as a Business Administration apprentice in the office of Simon Danczuk, Labour Member of Parliament for Rochdale.

Following his GCSEs, Shah started a Business Diploma course at a local college, but soon realised that he wasn’t suited to that style of learning, so dropped out of the course.

He decided to look for an Apprenticeship opportunity within the local area, and consulted the National Apprenticeship Service vacancy website.

He identified a position close to his home, which turned out to be in the office of Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale since 2010.

Shah was delighted when he received a call from the MP’s office informing him that his application had been successful.

His training programme is managed by Greater Manchester’s largest provider of Apprenticeship training, Skills Solutions.

Shah works in a busy office in the centre of Rochdale as part of a team of five. His duties involve dealing with constituency correspondence and meeting members of the public who have problems they want the MP to deal with. These can range from a faulty boiler in a council house to complex benefits and immigration cases.

Together with more experienced colleagues, Shah deals with these cases from initial contact to resolution, liaising with other public and private sector organisations and keeping the constituents in the picture.

Shah can speak Bengali, and that can be useful in dealing with some of the constituents’ cases.

Shah said: “I wasn’t really interested in politics when I applied for this position, but having worked here for a while now, I’m really enjoying it.

"The best part is that every day is totally different, there are so many varied issues to deal with. I’m the kind of person who learns better in a work situation than in a classroom.

“Every Friday, Mr Danczuk is back in the constituency to run his weekly surgeries and that’s a really busy day. At some stage in the future, I’d really like to be a fully-fledged case worker working on my own cases from start to finish.

"I’m going to the House of Commons for a staff Open Day in March, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

“I’d certainly recommend an apprenticeship to my friends. I’m earning money, getting a recognised qualification and enjoying my work. I’m really happy that I made the choice that I did.”

Simon Danczuk MP said: "Shah is making a great contribution to the team. He's very popular, works hard and always remains positive.

"I really recommend taking on an apprentice, not only does it help the young person but it also helps us have a more diverse team and it brings in a younger perspective."