Low take-up, unambitious targets and poor-quality training: the Public Accounts Committee, local authorities and small housebuilders all raise concerns over government reforms to the apprenticeships programme.
The Department for Education (the Department) has failed to make the progress that it predicted when it reformed the apprenticeships programme in spring 2017, a damning new report has concluded.
The number of apprenticeships starts fell by 26% after the apprenticeship levy was introduced and, although the level is now recovering, the government will not meet its target of 3 million starts by March 2020.
The Department’s focus on higher-level apprenticeships and levy-paying employers increases the risk that minority groups, disadvantaged areas and smaller employers may miss out on the benefits that apprenticeships can bring, the report concluded.
After a slow beginning, more than half of apprenticeships are now started on employer-designed standards rather than the old-style frameworks. However, some employers are using apprenticeship funds to pay for professional training or management courses that they would otherwise have paid for themselves.
Because of the drop in apprenticeship starts, the Department underspent the programme’s budget by 20% in 2017-18. However, employers’ preference for higher-cost apprenticeships means that the programme is expected to come under growing financial pressure in the coming years.
Unless funding is increased, the report warned that the Department will face difficult decisions about which aspects of the programme to prioritise.
Meg Hillier, Chair, said, ““Ultimately, the lack of progress has disrupted the direction of the programme. The way the programme is evolving is out of kilter with the Department’s objectives: opportunities for people with lower skills are diminishing and apprenticeship starts in disadvantaged communities has fallen.”
“What’s more, take-up from under-represented groups has been too low. We are supportive of the programme’s core objective to draw apprentices from a wider range of social and demographic group, but this is at complete odds with its unambitious targets.
“We are also concerned about the quality of training: a third of apprentices are being trained by providers who have been rated inadequate or requires improvement by Ofsted and there are currently not enough assessors to meet the demand for end-of-apprenticeship assessments.
“The apprenticeships programme has laudable ambitions, but the Department’s poor execution has created serious longer-term problems. The Department for Education must get its reform of apprenticeships back on track, realigning the programme with its initial objectives so that as much of the population as possible can benefit from it.”
Chairman of the Local Government Association’s People and Places Board, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, added, “The Committee is right to raise concerns about the Government’s current Apprenticeship Levy policy. Councils have warned the current system is hampering local efforts to boost apprenticeships and are calling for greater flexibility in order to deliver good-quality apprenticeships.
“Considerable barriers are restricting employers from spending their Levy funds. Apprenticeships standards, against which the Levy must be spent, have been delayed or are yet to be approved, including in adult care, early years and building control.
“The government needs to pause plans to begin clawing back unspent Levy funding this month as a result. This will only serve to hold employers and the workforce back and risks exacerbating the nation’s skills crisis.”
Lord Fox, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the House of Lords, has also highlighted the concerns surrounding the apprenticeship levy. He focussed especially on the quality of apprenticeships, excessive bureaucracy and limited flexibility.
Meanwhile, the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has highlighted how the current system disadvantages small businesses.
Larger companies can pass 25% of their levy vouchers to their supply chain but, with small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) training four in five of all construction apprentices, they should be able to pass a greater percentage. This would particularly help companies who cannot spend their vouchers because there is a delay in approving apprenticeship standards.
The NFB said that the government’s push for reforming apprenticeships started off on the wrong foot by focussing on numbers rather than on quality. The aspiration was to recruit 3 million new apprentices by 2020. However, the goal of employers is to recruit and retain high-quality staff.
Enforcing late payment measures, reforming planning, and making procurement a level playing field are practicable solutions that ensure businesses can take on new staff.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “If we want higher apprenticeship standards then we must focus on completions rather than starts. This change must be part of reform, which also sees more of the levy going to the supply chain.
“High-quality apprentices also need consistent employment opportunities. By being able to receive more than 25% of a supply chain partner’s levy, the companies that provide around 80% of the industry’s training can put that money toward apprenticeships.”
