📚👷‍♂️🚀 Apprenticeships

• Celebration of National Apprenticeships Week: The debate highlighted the upcoming National Apprenticeships Week, celebrating the success of over 750,000 apprenticeships that boost skills and productivity. Members of Parliament shared examples of successful apprenticeships in various sectors across their constituencies.

• Calls for Improved Access and Support for Apprenticeships: There was a strong emphasis on the need to improve access to apprenticeships, especially for young people, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and underrepresented groups. Suggestions included addressing skill shortages in sectors like the arts, construction, and manufacturing through tailored apprenticeships.

• Criticism of the Apprenticeship Levy: Many speakers criticized the existing apprenticeship levy system, arguing it does not effectively support apprenticeships, particularly for SMEs and smaller businesses. There were calls to replace or reform the levy to make it more flexible and beneficial for businesses and learners.

• Government Plans for Reform: The government outlined its plan to introduce a new “growth and skills levy” to replace the current apprenticeship levy, aiming to include foundation apprenticeships to provide young people with new career routes. Additionally, the government committed to short-duration apprenticeships to meet employers’ needs more effectively.

• Focus on Youth and Social Mobility: Concerns were raised about the decline in apprenticeship starts for young people under the previous government. The Labour government expressed commitment to reversing this trend, emphasizing apprenticeships as a tool for economic growth and social mobility, particularly in underprivileged and remote areas.

• Establishment of Skills England: The government plans to set up Skills England to streamline the skills system, align apprenticeships with economic needs, and foster collaboration between businesses, education providers, and other stakeholders to address skills gaps and support economic growth.

• Calls for Better Careers Advice and Awareness: There were calls to improve careers advice in schools to raise awareness of apprenticeships as a valuable alternative to university education. The government is looking to enhance the Baker clause and consider destination measures in Ofsted evaluations to promote awareness and uptake.

• Investing in Skills for Economic Growth: The debate reiterated the importance of investing in apprenticeships to address the UK’s skills shortages, which have been linked to a third of employer vacancies. This investment is seen as crucial for economic growth and aligning the skills strategy with the industrial strategy.

• Support for Diverse Sectors and Special Needs: There was a focus on supporting diverse sectors such as the creative industries, green energy, and nuclear, as well as providing additional support for care leavers and apprentices with special needs through bursaries and funding incentives.

• Enhancing Quality and Fairness: Proposals were made to raise the apprenticeship minimum wage by 18%, ensuring apprentices are fairly compensated. There was also an emphasis on maintaining the quality of apprenticeships to ensure they provide valuable, career-boosting opportunities.

The parliamentary session on apprenticeships displays a moderate level of disagreement, warranting a rating of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. The disagreements within the session are not intense or fundamentally divisive, but rather they center around policy specifics and past performance rather than the overall value of apprenticeships. Here is a detailed breakdown of the disagreements observed in the session:

1. Disagreement on the Apprenticeship Levy:
   • Sarah Dyke from the Liberal Democrats expressed a view that the apprenticeship levy should be scrapped, reflecting a disagreement on its effectiveness. This sentiment was somewhat echoed by Max Wilkinson, who emphasized the need for reform and greater flexibility in the levy system. However, Andrew Pakes and others from the Labour Party endorsed replacing the existing levy with a new growth and skills levy, suggesting less of a disagreement over the levy’s existence and more of a nuanced policy adjustment.
2. Criticism of Past Government’s Performance:
   • There was a notable degree of contention regarding the performance of the previous Conservative government in the area of apprenticeships. For instance, Ms Julie Minns and Janet Daby (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education) criticized the decline in apprenticeship numbers under the previous administration. In contrast, Rebecca Paul from the Conservative Party defended the past efforts, highlighting achievements like the Skills and Post-16 Education Act and the increase in apprenticeship starts since 2010.
3. Funding and Policy Adjustments:
   • Wendy Morton raised concerns about funding and accessibility for SMEs, suggesting worries about insufficient support for these businesses under current policies. This indicates a disagreement not just over the existing policy but also over the future direction of apprenticeship funding and support. Janet Daby responded by acknowledging the importance of SMEs and mentioning specific financial support mechanisms like the 100% coverage of training costs for certain apprenticeships in SMEs.
4. Future Policy Development and Implementation:
   • There were questions and some tension around the timeline and implementation details of new policies, such as the introduction of Skills England and the growth and skills levy. Members like Shockat Adam and Tony Vaughan specifically asked for clarity on these points. The Minister’s responses aimed to address these concerns, but the underlying disagreement here pertained more to the urgency and specifics of policy rollout rather than fundamental disagreement on goals.

Overall, while there were disagreements, they primarily focused on policy mechanisms and historical performance rather than the broader goal of enhancing and promoting apprenticeships. The session’s participants largely agreed on the importance of apprenticeships, which kept the level of disagreement at a moderate level.