Apprenticeship Update
In May 2015 the Government pledged to deliver 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. Here we look at some of the key issues and initiatives from the past six months.
Government sets public sector targets
In early 2016, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Education launched a joint consultation into plans to introduce apprenticeship targets for public sector bodies. Open for comment until 4 March 2016, the consultation only applied to England.
It argues that, in order to meet the Government’s commitment to three million apprenticeship starts, the public sector needs to improve from its current position of delivering comparatively fewer opportunities than the private sector.
All public bodies with a headcount (individual employees) of 250 or more at the start of a reporting year will be considered as falling within the scope of the requirements set out in this consultation. They will have to report against the target, even if their headcount falls below 250 during the reporting year.
Of the 354 local authorities in England, all but the smallest (around 30 councils) would be covered by the duty as would all police forces and nearly all Fire and Rescue Services (with the exception of Isles of Scilly and Isle of Wight).
Schools which are maintained by a local authority and where the authority is also the employer are expected to be included in their own local government target.
As a starting point for determining an appropriate target for public sector organisations, Ministers have taken the current proportion of public sector workers in the total workforce in England (16.2%). They therefore expect the public sector to deliver 16.2% of three million apprenticeship starts (around 486,000).
In order to deliver these starts by 2020, the public sector will need to achieve around 97,000 apprenticeship starts annually, which is equivalent to 2.3% of the total public sector workforce.
While the three million commitment started in May 2015, the public sector target will only apply once the new legislation comes into force.
Apprenticeship standards
The Apprenticeship Unit of the BIS approved the standards set for apprentices in the ductwork and service and maintenance sectors of the building engineering services industry.
The apprenticeship standards were developed by groups of employers under the auspices of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES). Apprentices are expected to achieve these standards by the end of their training.
The new standards are part of a package of measures aimed at boosting the numbers of apprentices and enhancing the quality of training. The Government’s objective is to deliver 3 million apprenticeships, which reflect the requirements of business, by 2020.
The standards have been welcomed as a “significant step towards ensuring competence and professionalism across building engineering services”. They can be added to the pipefitting standards approved earlier in the year. The standard-setting exercise will soon take place for the ventilation hygiene field and will be followed by others shortly.
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) write apprenticeship commitments into procurement contracts in order to support apprenticeships and to broaden the range of businesses that invest in them. When businesses bid for contracts with central Government worth £10 million or more, their bids are reviewed in line with best practice for the number of apprentices that they expect to support and their projection will be written in to the contract.
Apprenticeship Levy
The Government published draft legislation on the introduction of an Apprenticeship Levy. It confirms that, from April 2017, employers with a wage bill of more than £3 million will have to pay a 0.5% levy to fund apprenticeships.
Employers who do not meet this criterion will not have to pay the Levy. The Government estimates that it will be paid by less than 2% of UK employers.
Employers will receive a £15,000 allowance to offset the payment of the levy, which will be paid in vouchers.
However only 1 in 100 of the UK’s manufacturing companies support the roll-out of the Levy in its present guise, while the majority believe that the scheme looks set to fail.
Following the survey of its members, EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, is urging Ministers to delay launching the Levy until at least September next year, pointing out the number of organisations that have grave concerns about the scheme’s design and implementation.
EEF’s Director of Employment and Skills Policy, Tim Thomas, said: “The headlong rush to bring this levy to market has left little time to iron out some significant wrinkles and get responses to industry’s unanswered questions. As a result, firms can see serious flaws that could sink this policy at launch.”
The survey found that 70% of respondents agree with the Government’s drive to deliver a greater number of apprentices, but only 18% think that the Apprenticeship Levy, as currently envisaged, will deliver.
Businesses told EEF that they want the levy to be simple to administer (92%), easy to understand (89%) and easy for organisations to access the funding (79%).
However, as it stands, they find it confusing (53%), overly-complicated (49%) and think it will simply become another cost burden on business (54%). And only 11% believe the Government’s claim that organisations will be able to get more out of the scheme than they put in.
“While Government has made every step to engage employers in the process,” Mr Thomas concluded, “the Levy simply isn’t ready to roll out — half a year more in development could make all the difference between whether it succeeds or fails.”
Apprenticeship Update
In May last year the Government pledged to deliver 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. Here we look at some of the key issues and initiatives from the past six months.
Government sets public sector targets
In early 2016, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Department for Education launched a joint consultation into plans to introduce apprenticeship targets for public sector bodies. Open for comment until 4 March 2016, the consultation only applied to England.
It argues that, in order to meet the Government’s commitment to three million apprenticeship starts, the public sector needs to improve from its current position of delivering comparatively fewer opportunities than the private sector.
All public bodies with a headcount (individual employees) of 250 or more at the start of a reporting year will be considered as falling within the scope of the requirements set out in this consultation. They will have to report against the target, even if their headcount falls below 250 during the reporting year.
Of the 354 local authorities in England, all but the smallest (around 30 councils) would be covered by the duty as would all police forces and nearly all Fire and Rescue Services (with the exception of Isles of Scilly and Isle of Wight).
Schools which are maintained by a local authority and where the authority is also the employer are expected to be included in their own local government target.
As a starting point for determining an appropriate target for public sector organisations, Ministers have taken the current proportion of public sector workers in the total workforce in England (16.2%). They therefore expect the public sector to deliver 16.2% of three million apprenticeship starts (around 486,000).
In order to deliver these starts by 2020, the public sector will need to achieve around 97,000 apprenticeship starts annually, which is equivalent to 2.3% of the total public sector workforce.
While the three million commitment started in May 2015, the public sector target will only apply once the new legislation comes into force.
Apprenticeship standards
The Apprenticeship Unit of the BIS approved the standards set for apprentices in the ductwork and service and maintenance sectors of the building engineering services industry.
The apprenticeship standards were developed by groups of employers under the auspices of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES). Apprentices are expected to achieve these standards by the end of their training.
The new standards are part of a package of measures aimed at boosting the numbers of apprentices and enhancing the quality of training. The Government’s objective is to deliver 3 million apprenticeships, which reflect the requirements of business, by 2020.
The standards have been welcomed as a “significant step towards ensuring competence and professionalism across building engineering services”. They can be added to the pipefitting standards approved earlier in the year. The standard-setting exercise will soon take place for the ventilation hygiene field and will be followed by others shortly.
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) write apprenticeship commitments into procurement contracts in order to support apprenticeships and to broaden the range of businesses that invest in them. When businesses bid for contracts with central Government worth £10 million or more, their bids are reviewed in line with best practice for the number of apprentices that they expect to support and their projection will be written in to the contract.
Apprenticeship Levy
The Government published draft legislation on the introduction of an Apprenticeship Levy. It confirms that, from April 2017, employers with a wage bill of more than £3 million will have to pay a 0.5% levy to fund apprenticeships.
Employers who do not meet this criterion will not have to pay the Levy. The Government estimates that it will be paid by less than 2% of UK employers.
Employers will receive a £15,000 allowance to offset the payment of the levy, which will be paid in vouchers.
However only 1 in 100 of the UK’s manufacturing companies support the roll-out of the Levy in its present guise, while the majority believe that the scheme looks set to fail.
Following the survey of its members, EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, is urging Ministers to delay launching the Levy until at least September next year, pointing out the number of organisations that have grave concerns about the scheme’s design and implementation.
EEF’s Director of Employment and Skills Policy, Tim Thomas, said: “The headlong rush to bring this levy to market has left little time to iron out some significant wrinkles and get responses to industry’s unanswered questions. As a result, firms can see serious flaws that could sink this policy at launch.”
The survey found that 70% of respondents agree with the Government’s drive to deliver a greater number of apprentices, but only 18% think that the Apprenticeship Levy, as currently envisaged, will deliver.
Businesses told EEF that they want the levy to be simple to administer (92%), easy to understand (89%) and easy for organisations to access the funding (79%).
However, as it stands, they find it confusing (53%), overly-complicated (49%) and think it will simply become another cost burden on business (54%). And only 11% believe the Government’s claim that organisations will be able to get more out of the scheme than they put in.
“While Government has made every step to engage employers in the process,” Mr Thomas concluded, “the Levy simply isn’t ready to roll out — half a year more in development could make all the difference between whether it succeeds or fails.”