The CIPD has added its weight to the long list of people, companies, experts and business organisations pointing out that the government'‘s apprenticeship levy has been a failure.
Its study found total apprenticeship starts fell from 494,000 in 2016-17 to 322,500 in 2019-20. The number of apprentices under 19 also fell from 122,800 to 76,300. This is an abject failure, industry warned it would happen, it did happen and the government has done nothing to reform or improve the system it forced on the economy.
Basically a new tax on business to pay for apprenticeship training was overly complicated, full of holes and just seen as a burden. Many small firms gave up on hiring and training, many large businesses channelled the money to management training. It has been a farce from the start.
As a result hundreds of thousands of people desperately in need of training, who would be a real benefit to the economy and who are just what is needed to improve the UK’s appalling productivity levels, have lost the chance to improve their skills and employability.
Covid has made this worse, many companies are letting apprentices go as they are expensive and business is struggling. Brexit makes this more urgent as the UK has cut itself off from the free movement of skilled labour from the continent and needs to replace it. That means more apprenticeships not fewer.
At any other time this would cost ministers their careers, it is a total failure that has been reported on from the start. Yet month after month and now year after year nothing has been done to fix or reverse it.
No country and certainly not the UK can afford this level of incompetence.
https://jonty.substack.com/
Interesting recent announcement from BAE Systems announcing they are creating 1,250 apprenticeship jobs. Excellent news.
Good morning Jonty, I can't help feeling the author of this jotting could have benefited from serving an apprenticeship? It is a bit half baked.
A couple of rushed off numbers to makes ones point of a decline but no deep dive investigation as to why other than employers are out to avoid the apprenticeship levy. No comparison with other countries and alternative schemes. No actuarial style investigation which industries are the current apprenticeships growing in and which they are declining in?
We can all do an apprenticeship but it is no good if there is no job at the end of it. It then just becomes cheap labour on a pretence. Are there regional variations in take up & attitudes towards apprenticeships?
Do these apprenticeship numbers include the recognised ones whilst serving in HM UK armed forces?
I'm not sure who the current apprenticeship minister is? I know in the past it was Robert Halfon who I think was behind the good intent of the Apprenticeship Levy. I know Robert personally and I know he has the biggest heart of any MP for the whole apprenticeship concept. I believe if folks sit down with the Minister and/or Robert current failings may well be looked at and overcome. If Robert needed some help I'd be happy to assist him sort any changes required. We can all sit on the sidelines throwing in curve balls. Let's get the apprenticeship jobs increasing again!