APSCo welcomes Skills England report but warns of need to scale up apprenticeship scope swiftly

Responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement of the new growth and skills levy and new foundation apprenticeships, as well as the  first Skills England report on the nationwide skills gaps, Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has warned that more reforms of apprenticeships are needed  than has been outlined:

We’re very pleased to see that Skills England and the Department for Education (DfE) have clearly already been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to be able to produce a report in such depth in a relatively short timeframe. APSCo welcomes its findings which are in line with our member experiences in terms of skills gaps.

“In terms of the employer investment, it has to be acknowledged that since 2008 there have been problematic business conditions, particularly in relation to productivity. This has meant that firms simply don’t have the funds or bandwidth to invest in as much training as they would want.

“We recognise that the Government has taken immediate steps with Foundation Apprenticeships, which we welcome. However, we are disappointed to see that Level 7 apprenticeships have been removed from Levy scope given the need for world leading expertise to boost the UK’s productivity. Given the scale of unspent Levy funds – particularly from the recruitment sector – we consider there are sufficient funds to focus both on investment into 18–24-year-olds and masters level advancement.

We do, of course, understand that the Government doesn’t yet feel that it is in a position to make a firm decision around extending the scope of the Levy beyond apprenticeships, but it is critical that a decision around this is made swiftly. It is promising to see in the official announcement from Skills England and the DfE that training eligible for funding under the new Levy will develop over time. If real progress is to be made, though, this will need to happen soon to really scale up the highly skilled workforce.

As we outlined in our own Manifesto earlier this year and, more recently, in our campaign, ‘Unshackle Skills Investment through the Growth and Skills Levy’, it is vital that the Growth and Skills Levy (GSL) is used to fund shorter, more flexible modular accredited training for everyone. That includes extending the scope to encompass agency workers, independent professionals and the self-employed. The removal of Level 7 apprenticeships negates this recommendation. We hope to see this addressed soon.