Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
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Bids invited for share of £7m apprenticeships funding

Bids invited for share of £7m apprenticeships funding

DEPARTMENT FOR INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release (047) issued by COI News Distribution Service on 27 April 2009

Businesses and training providers are being encouraged to bid for funding from a pot of £7 million to take on apprentices in the downturn, Apprenticeships Minister Lord Young announced today.

The additional funding is available to pay for new and innovative approaches to make it easier for small businesses to take on apprentices. This delivers on a commitment made in the Government's New Opportunities White Paper in January. Details of the new approach are outlined in the prospectus 'Testing Alternative Delivery Models: Group Training Associations and Apprenticeships Training Agencies published today.

The £7million will fund up to 10 new Apprenticeship Training Agencies (ATAs) to be set up this year which together will have the potential to deliver up to 15,000 apprenticeship places per year by 2014/15, but we expect the new agencies to start delivering new apprenticeships in the first year. This sits alongside work Government is already doing to increase apprenticeship places. In January the Prime Minister announced an additional £140m to provide an extra 35,000 places this year.

ATAs bolster the existing arrangements to support apprentices at risk of redundancy and those made redundant. ATAs are companies or partnerships acting as a recruitment agency, hiring out apprentices to 'host' employers and other organisations. They represent a new model based on a programme used in Australia where they provide around 10% of all places.

They offer a tailored service for the business and greater security for the apprentice. The agencies offer greater flexibility so that if the host business is unable to continue supporting the apprentice for any reason they return to the ATA and are re-assigned to another business.

Apprenticeships Minister Lord Young said:

"Apprenticeships have seen a massive expansion under this Government, with nearly a quarter of a million young people and adults starting one this year compared to only 65,000 a decade ago.

"We are committed to driving up these numbers further, ensuring that as many young people and adults have the opportunity to do an Apprenticeship as possible.

"In these tougher times it's more important than ever that we invest in the skills of our workforce, helping individuals get into and stay on at work as well as helping businesses stay competitive and prepare for the upturn.

"The prospectus the National Apprenticeship Service is publishing today invites bids for a share of £7million to help us expand apprenticeships further, delivering on the Government's commitment to provide real help to individuals and businesses."

Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said:

"Businesses are realising the benefits of taking on apprentices. They are committed, motivated people who want to get trained for a head start in the job market. We are seeing many of the country's largest companies help to revive apprenticeships; it's only right that small and medium-sized businesses get the same opportunities."

The funding will also be available to help to develop and expand new or existing Group Training Associations (GTAs). GTAs have been in existence since the 1960s to provide skills and training on behalf of groups of employers.

For small businesses which might not have the capacity or resources to provide their own training, a GTA helps them to share expertise with other employers and develop their own dedicated training. The focus of the fund is to encourage GTAs to be developed in sectors which have low numbers of apprentices at present.

Existing arrangements are in place for apprentices who are in danger of being made redundant or are made redundant. These apprentices are helped to find a new employer by their training provider or given assistance to move into college allowing them to complete their apprenticeship. In the construction industry a matching service has been set up by the Sector Skills Council and the Learning and Skills Council which has so far helped 574 apprentices find an alternative employer and 122 remain with the existing employer.

Simon Waugh, Chief Executive of the National Apprenticeship Service, said:

"This prospectus will provide new opportunities for employers and training providers to work together to develop Apprenticeship programmes in under-represented sectors, as well as to support expansion in well-established sectors. The additional funding means we can test new approaches to support the expansion of Apprenticeships and best meet the needs of employers and learners in a changing economy."

Notes to editors

1. To view a copy of Testing Alternative Delivery Models: Group Training Associations and Apprenticeships Training Agencies go to http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/About-Us/Publications.aspx

2. The New Opportunities White Paper was published on13 January 2009 (DN check). To view a copy, go to http://www.hmg.gov.uk/newopportunities.aspx

3. The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) was announced in January 2008 and will be officially launched on 27th April 2009. Reporting to the Departments for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the service will drive forward the Government's ambition for Apprenticeships. The service aims to bring about a significant growth in the number of employers offering Apprenticeships. The NAS will assume total responsibility for the delivery of Apprenticeships that includes: Employer Services; Learner Services; and a web-based vacancy matching system. This online system enables individuals to search and apply for live vacancies and allows employers, and their training providers to advertise their vacancies to a wide range of interested applicants. The service has ultimate accountability for the national delivery of targets and co-ordination of the funding for Apprenticeship places. It will act to overcome barriers to the growth of the programme and assume responsibility for promoting Apprenticeships and their value to employers, learners and the country as a whole.

4. The London Apprenticeship Company (LAC) is a not for profit company which will work in partnership with colleges and employers to provide apprenticeships across the capital. The LAC will make the process of taking on apprentices easier, offer extra support by setting up training and dealing with administration. In its first year the LAC hopes to support more than 250 places in a range of industries including creative media, hospitality, retail and construction.

5. For further Information please call the DIUS Press Office on 020 3300 8883.

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