MPs slam Tories over lack of progress on reforms
 of apprenticeships

The Conservative government’s apprenticeships programme, particularly its focus on higher-level apprenticeships and large apprenticeship levy-paying employers, comes in for scathing criticism in a new report from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC).


The report states: “The Department for Education has failed to make the progress that it predicted when it reformed the apprenticeships programme in spring 2017. The number of apprenticeship starts fell by 26% after the apprenticeship levy was introduced and, although the level is now recovering, the government will not meet its target of three million starts by March 2020.” 


PAC chair Meg Hillier said the lack of progress had “disrupted the direction of the programme. The way the programme is evolving is out of kilter with the department’s objectives: opportunities for people with lower skills are diminishing and apprenticeship starts in disadvantaged communities has fallen”.


The report highlights the growing practice of employers using apprenticeship funds to pay for professional training or management courses they would otherwise have paid for themselves. This “increases the risk that minority groups, disadvantaged areas and smaller employers may miss out on the benefits that apprenticeships can bring”.


“The Department for Education must get its reform of apprenticeships back on track, realigning the programme with its initial objectives so that as much of the population as possible can benefit from it”, added Hillier.


https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmpubacc/1749/1749.pdf