Apprenticeship Levy and three million ‘starts’ target
need sectoral and regional focus
The Government’s flagship apprenticeships policies have a
worrying lack of focus and will not fill widening skills gaps
unless they concentrate on sectors and regions where training is
most needed, MPs conclude in a report published today.
The Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy, formed
from the Education and Business Select Committees, finds
that the Government’s Apprenticeship Levy, introduced next week,
and target of three million ‘starts’ by the end of the Parliament
are blunt instruments that risk being unduly focused on simply
raising participation levels.
The Committee says the Government should place far greater
emphasis on outcomes, judging success of apprenticeships by, for
example, whether individual apprentices secure employment.
Ministers should also look to how apprenticeships can help close
the skills gap, including by restructuring the levy on a sectoral
and regional basis. The Committee also points to concerns that
the three million target could hamper attempts to raise quality
of provision.
The report highlights tension between the Government’s
desire to give employers more control over the system and its
attempts to use apprenticeships to increase social mobility. The
Committee also warns that schools are still failing to promote
non-university routes.
MP, Chair of the Education
Committee and Co-Chair of the Sub-Committee on Education, Skills
and the Economy, said:“Apprenticeships are vital if
we are to close the skills gap, which could grow wider
post-Brexit. We must train our young people for jobs that the
economy needs, but the Government has failed to show how its
three million target and levy will help achieve this.
“Ministers must recognise that apprenticeships are a means to
an end and not an end in themselves. They need to place greater
emphasis on outcomes, focussing on areas of the economy where
training is most needed, and ensuring quantity does not trump
quality.
“For too long apprenticeships have been seen as inferior to
the university route and failed to benefit young people from
disadvantaged backgrounds. We fully support the Government's
attempts to improve the prestige of apprenticeships, but it will
take more than words to achieve this aim. If the quality is there
the prestige will follow.”
MP, Chair of the Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and Co-Chair of the
Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy,
said: “The Government’s flagship
apprenticeships policies positively focus on raising
participation but are inherently contradictory. Ministers have a
centrally-dictated, top-down three million target, welcome though
that focus is, at the same time as insisting that this approach
will be bottom-up and address the skills requirements of
individual firms, sectors and regional economies. These
requirements will often be very different and the Government
should target those sectors of the economy and regions of the
country where skills shortages are particularly acute.
“The Government has emphasised in its emerging industrial
strategy the importance of supporting and promoting UK
productivity and states that apprenticeships will be an important
part of this. However, too much training remains sub-standard and
detrimental to the career of apprentices and, more widely, the
performance of our economy. The success of the Government's
reforms will ultimately be judged on whether the planned increase
in the quantity of apprenticeships is matched by an increase in
their quality.”
A survey by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills’ found
209,500 reported skilled vacancies, a rise of 43 per cent from
the 146,000 reported in 2013. This is despite apprenticeship
‘starts’ increasing to 509,400 in 2015-16,
according to official figures.
The Committee recommends the Government publishes an annual
report setting out the skills shortages on a national, regional
and sector-specific basis and set clear targets to ensure that
uptake of apprenticeships in these areas is prioritised.
The report also urges the Government to produce an annual survey
of performance against clear outcome measures such as
completions, progressions to higher levels and relevant
employment secured. Official figures show just 67 per cent of
apprenticeships were completed in 2015-16.
Ofqual should have a greater role in regulating new-end point
assessments, the report adds.
The report welcomes the creation of the Institute for
Apprenticeships, which it expects will play a major role in
improving quality in the future. However it cautions that the new
body must be given sufficient capacity and independence if it is
to succeed.
It also calls for more support for apprentices themselves, which
could include changes to the benefits system, more subsidised
fares on public transport or even direct financial support such
as bursaries.
The Committee welcomes the Government’s commitment to
apprenticeships and supports the aims of its reforms to increase
the number of apprentices and improve the quality of the
training.
