DEPARTMENT FOR
INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release issued by The
Government News Network on 8 October 2007
Skills Minister
David Lammy today called on major public sector employers to offer
more Apprenticeships to young people and adults and break down
barriers preventing their take up.
The move is part of the Government's drive to see 400,000
Apprenticeships in England by 2020. The Prime Minister told the
TUC last month that the Public Sector should provide many more placements.
Responding to a House of Lords report on apprenticeships David
Lammy said:
"We have seen nothing short of a renaissance of
Apprenticeships under this Government. We now have over a quarter
of million people engaged in them in every sector across the economy.
"I am now bringing together public sector employers at a
high level summit to help show the way and determine how all
employers and small to medium size employers can offer more apprenticeships.
"We want to make apprenticeships more easily accessible to
everyone who wants one. A web-based clearing service we have been
trialling will help potential apprentices search nationally much
more easily by job category and area and match them better to
suitable employers. It will also help employers to recruit their apprentices.
"Apprenticeships are routes to good careers. Apprentices can
quickly contribute to an employer's bottom line. They are
vital to our mission to be highly skilled and productive and we
must maximise their potential.
"Working in partnership with employers, learners and
training providers, we will introduce an entitlement to an
apprenticeship for every suitably qualified young person that
wants one by 2013. We are determined to make high quality
Government funded Apprenticeships available and well regarded in
all parts of the country.'
Notes to Editors
* The House of Lord's Select Committee on Economic
Affairs' Fifth Report of its 2006-2007 Session, published in
July, may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld/ldeconaf.htm
* There are currently in excess of 250, 000 apprentices in
England, studying c. 180 different Apprenticeships frameworks,
over 80 sectors.
* Employees who have taken an apprenticeship have been shown to
be more productive, have higher morale and to produce higher
quality work than similar employees after their training.
* The Government has also announced its intention to have an
entitlement to an apprenticeship for every suitably qualified
young person by 2013 and to have half a million apprenticeships
across the UK.
* Apprenticeships benefit employers because they gain motivated,
skilled workers who are very familiar with the particular issues
of their sectors and are highly productive.
* Apprenticeships benefit learners because they form a work-based
strand in the overall network of 14-19 education, allowing
apprentices to earn while they learn, in an extremely practical environment.
* The summit was announced as a part of the Government's
response to the House of Lord's report Apprenticeship: A key
route to skill.
* The response addresses many of the Committee's concerns on
Government-sponsored Apprenticeships. It includes some more
information about the national clearing service for
Apprenticeships which the Prime Minister also announced on 10th September.
* The clearing service was a particular request of the House of
Lords' Select Committee, and had already been trialled at the
time of the report's publication.
* The planned clearing service will have national coverage, but
potential apprentices will be able to search the service by job
category, and by area. The data that will be collected on
providers, learners and employers will help identify specific
supply and demand issues within small geographical areas, to find
solutions which will enable further Apprenticeships to be undertaken.
* Some of the other recommendations from the Select
Committee's report are currently being explored by an
internal review between DIUS and DCSF.
* The Public Sector has already been identified as having
particular potential for further expansion of its Apprenticeships
programme, despite already having very successful Apprenticeships
programmes in many areas, especially in many Local Authorities and
within the Ministry of Defence.