Labour to close the skills gap with 320,000 new climate apprenticeships in its first term in government

In a speech to the CBI tomorrow (Monday), Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will announce reforms to the apprenticeship levy to better meet the needs of workers and employers, and tackle the climate emergency.

A Labour government will create a climate apprenticeship programme to deliver 320,000 apprenticeships in England during its first term in government. By 2030 the programme will have created 886,000 apprenticeships.

Britain has a severe skills shortage, particularly in higher technical skills. Two-thirds of businesses already worry they won’t be able to fill skilled posts and the skills gap will only grow due to automation and the need to respond to climate change.

The global green economy is currently valued at $4 trillion, and is projected to grow to $9 trillion in value by 2030. Climate Apprenticeships will upskill the UK workforce so that UK companies can compete and succeed in the new economy.

Businesses will benefit from an average of 80,000 people per year being trained as apprentice engineers and technicians in renewable energy and transport, civil engineers and skilled tradespeople in sustainable construction, designers, welders and fabricators in low carbon industries, and sustainable agriculture and forestry specialists. Climate Apprenticeships will be open to new starters and those wanting to retrain.

Climate Apprenticeships will be funded by diverting 25 per cent of the funds employers already set aside through the Apprenticeship Levy and topped up by any dividends over the cap paid into Labour’s Inclusive Ownership Funds – expected to be £700 million by 2024.

This comes as part of a package of reforms to the apprenticeship scheme. Since the Conservatives’ reforms were introduced in 2017 there has been a 20 per cent fall in the number of apprenticeship starts, businesses are unable to deliver the quality training they need and too many young people are unable to access education and training opportunities.

Labour will give employers more flexibility in how they spend their levy funds, so they can be more responsive to the needs of the economy. Reforms include allowing levy funds to be redeemed for a wider range of accredited training and extending the period of time allowed for employers to spend their levy. Labour will also increase the amount of money businesses are allowed to transfer to non-levy paying small and medium-sized businesses.

Speaking at the CBI, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to say:

“Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will be a central motor of the party’s plans to transform our country and economy, using public investment to create good, clean jobs, tackle the climate emergency and rebuild held back towns, cities and communities.

“Climate Apprenticeships will offer training to school leavers and workers looking to change jobs mid-career, creating the engineers, technicians and construction workers we need to transition to a green economy.

“This election is our last chance to tackle the climate emergency. The Tories have failed to invest in our economy, failed to deliver apprenticeships and failed to face up to the climate emergency.

“Labour will deliver real change.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Climate Apprenticeship Programme

Labour’s ambitious plans to rapidly decarbonise our own economy and kick start a Green Industrial Revolution by investing in offshore wind, electric vehicles, and upgrading every home in the UK to be warm and energy efficient will require a skilled workforce. Climate Apprenticeships will provide those skills.

As the UK decarbonises, workers reliant on carbon intensive sectors like offshore oil will need to transition into new roles. Climate Apprenticeships will offer retraining for workers mid-career, as well as new starters, helping to smooth that transition.

Labour will create a climate apprenticeship programme to deliver 886,000 Climate Apprenticeships from 2020-2030 in England, averaging over 80,000 trained per year in the low carbon, skilled jobs of today and tomorrow.

Under this programme:

Levy payers will be required to dedicate 25% of their funds to climate apprenticeships.

Any surplus that they do not use themselves will go into a regionally-distributed Climate Apprenticeship Fund accessible to other levy-payers who have used up their own climate apprenticeship funds;

The Fund will be topped up by an dividends paid into IOFs above the cap of £500 per person per year or 25% of total funds, whichever is higher, and a portion of it ring-fenced for non-levy paying businesses. By the end of the first term, this will be more than match-fund the contributions made by levy-payers, adding an estimated £700 million per year to the Climate Apprenticeship Fund.

Reforming the apprenticeship programme

Labour will reform the levy so that it better meets the needs of employers:

Make levy funds redeemable for all training accredited by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and in line with government priorities. As well as apprentices, this is likely to include: reskilling to respond to disruptive technologies, basic skills training and high-quality vocational education and training.

Extend the amount of time employers have to spend their levy funds on apprentices from 24 to 48 months to reflect the length of the longest apprenticeships (e.g. engineering) but retain the 24 month expiration for other forms of training to ensure there isn’t a 4 year delay in large scale skills spending;

Review funding bands to ensure the upper bands reflect the true cost of the most expensive apprenticeships;

Increase the amount of an employer’s levy funds that can be transferred to non-levy paying employers to 50% and introduce a matching service on the digital platform;

Allow sectors to tailor the levy to their specific needs, e.g. by voluntarily opting for an increased levy in their sector. This would be agreed by consensus by the Sector Growth Councils.

Further policies to boost green economy and address skills shortage

Labour will create a Green Transformation Fund of £250bn over ten years to invest in the new infrastructure and green technologies of the future, including wind and solar https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-to-shift-centre-of-political-decision-making-from-london-to-the-north/

Set up a £250 billion National Investment Bank and network of Regional Development Banks to give our businesses, infrastructure and industries of the future the funding they need through:

An enterprise focus on lending to SMEs, start ups and co-operatives in every region and nation of the UK.
An infrastructure focus to upgrade our infrastructure in every region and nation.

An innovation focus to develop world leading industries of the future, including new green manufacturing and businesses in our towns that have had their industries ripped out.

Labour announces plans to “throw open the door” for adults to study and retrain throughout their lives and take advantage of the Green Industrial Revolution

https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-announces-plans-to-throw-open-the-door-for-adults-to-study/

Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution

Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution will be a central motor of the party’s plans to transform our country and economy, using public investment to create good, clean jobs, tackle the climate emergency and rebuild held back towns, cities and communities.

As part of it’s Green Industrial Revolution, Labour will:

Take the national grid (transmission and distribution networks) out of the hands of private shareholders and invest profits in upgrading the grid so that it is able to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Create local, micro grids of batteries - including electric car batteries - to store and balance fluctuating renewable energy.

Install 1 million solar panels on social and low income homes and enable the installation of solar panels on an additional 750,000 homes through a programme of interest free loans, grants and changes to regulations.

Build 37 new offshore windfarms with a 51% public stake ( 20% of the profits from this stake will be invested into held back coastal communities/80% invested into into transitioning to renewables)

Support the development of tidal lagoons, starting with approval of the Swansea Tidal Lagoon

Remove the barriers to onshore wind put in place by the Conservative government.

Create 450,000 jobs by installing energy saving measures such as loft insulation and double glazing, renewable and low carbon technologies in almost all of the UK’s 27 million homes as part of it’s “Warm Homes for All” programme.

Build all new homes as zero carbon within three years.

Phase out internal combustible engines by 2030 and accelerate an “Electric Car Revolution” and install electric car charging points and community car clubs in every neighbourhood.

Enable the expansion of public transport.