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.