Ministers have thrown their weight behind apprenticeships today setting out how more than 21,000 apprenticeship places in frontline public services will be delivered - as the Cabinet meets in Southampton
23 February 2009
- 21,000 new apprenticeships in the NHS, education and local government -
- Building Schools for the Future projects required to take on apprentices adding an extra 1,000 -
- John Denham and Ed Balls kick off National Apprenticeships Week -
- Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners Bill -
Marking the start of National Apprenticeships Week, Skills Secretary and Southampton MP John Denham and Children's Secretary Ed Balls will reveal how thousands of apprenticeship places are to be created in hospitals, schools, colleges and town halls across the country in 2009-10.
They also announced that it would become a requirement for all construction firms and local authorities to take on apprentices in the Building Schools for the Future programme - creating up to an extra 1,000 apprenticeship places. The unprecedented project is rebuilding or refurbishing the entire secondary school estate in England. This builds on the requirement already in place for further education building works programme Building Colleges for the Future.
Ministers want the Government's commitment to drive up the number of public sector apprenticeships to lay down the marker to the wider economy of the need to create a new generation of skilled workers. Currently the public sector employs 20 per cent of the national workforce but offers fewer than one in ten apprenticeships.
The places will deliver on the Government's pledge earlier this year to create 35,000 additional apprenticeship places. As part of the delivery on that pledge, they today set out their plans to drive up numbers in the public sector with an increase of 21,000 from April. They include:
* 5,000 more in the National Health Service and social care in areas such as customer service; dental nursing; health and social care; pharmacies; learning and development posts;
* 2,500 more places in further education colleges and universities including childcare; business administration; horticulture and vehicle maintenance;
* 7,500 in local government, including customer service; warehousing; hospitality and catering; and business and administration posts;
* 4,500 in schools and children's services - including apprenticeships to offer high quality training in childcare, youth work and social care. In schools, places include teaching assistants; catering, premises management and ICT support; and
* 1,000 more places in Ministry of Defence civilian apprenticeships in apprenticeships such as business and administration and catering, as well as more traditional engineering frameworks;
* more than 600 apprentices in other Government departments including the Home Office, DWP, DfT, the Cabinet Office, DFID, BERR, HMT, HMRC, DCMS and the Attorney General's Office.
In addition to the more than 21,000 public sector apprentices, ministers set out plans for:
* All construction companies winning contracts for the Building Schools for the Future programme will be required to have formal training programmes - creating up to an extra 1,000 apprenticeship places from June 2009 - including posts in construction, information technology and facilities management.
Today's announcements builds on the transformation in apprenticeships over the last ten years - from just 65,000 in 1997 to a quarter of million this coming year. Over 130,000 employers now offer apprenticeships across 80 industry sectors.
It also builds further step towards the long-term ambition that one in five young people will do an apprenticeship by 2020 with 250,000 adults starting one.
Mr Denham said:
"This Government has rescued apprenticeships having more than trebled their number since 1997 to almost a quarter of a million today. Last year was a record year for apprenticeships wiht the highest ever starts, completions and completion rate.
"We want to continue that growth and get young people and adults to recognise the huge breadth of jobs and career options an apprenticeship can open up in healthcare, education and business to name just a few.
"The public sector places we are talking about today are great news for those looking for an apprenticeship but also represent the Government's commitment to leading by example, encouraging businesses to take on apprentices and help ensure we have the highly skilled workforce the UK needs to stay competitive through the downturn and when the upturn comes."
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said:
"Apprenticeships are pivotal in equipping the country with a highly skilled and motivated workforce. They unlock the working potential of young people and adults so they can move into high-quality skilled jobs - raising their own aspirations; building successful businesses; and transforming public services. Increasing the number of apprenticeships across all sectors is vital to the success of our plans to raise the education leaving age to 18 and will help us give all young people a career path and a future to aspire to. The status of apprenticeships should be as high as that of university or further education.
"National Apprenticeships Week is about demonstrating the benefits of on-the-job training directly to employers - so they can put the right skills, in the right place to survive the downturn.
"These are tough economic times but this is no time to shy away from the challenges we face. It is crucial that the public sector leads by example in expanding its investment in our future and building a motivated, highly skilled workforce. I want the frontline health, education, local government services and our unprecedented secondary school building programme to lay down a marker for the rest of the economy.
"Our legislation will build on the massive expansion in apprenticeships and skills training in the last decade - giving every young person who wants one the right to an apprenticeship will allow young people to fulfil their working potential. It means that every secondary school will be required to provide information apprenticeships as part of their careers education - so that more young people are aware of the enormous opportunities open to them and do not miss out."
The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners Bill's second reading is due to take place later today. The Bill sets out a series of key reforms, including entitling every suitably qualified young person to an apprenticeship among other key reforms to skills training.
The second annual National Apprenticeships Week will see businesses, employers and apprentices celebrate the expansion of apprenticeships and promote their benefits to employers and workers. Sir Alan Sugar, currently fronting a major TV campaign to promote apprenticeships, is joining ministers to host the first of a series of major seminars with employers and young people.
Commenting on the 5000 new apprenticeships in the NHS and social care, Heath Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"Apprenticeships are an excellent way of creating a highly skilled, highly motivated and loyal workforce. We have already made a commitment as part of Lord Darzi's Next Stage Review to double our investment in apprenticeships by 2012/13, but we aim to go further and faster and we are starting with an additional 5,000 apprenticeships across health and social care next year.
"Around 60 percent of NHS organisations have already provided apprenticeships, but we want to do more. We recognise that modern apprenticeships have a valuable role in some clinical areas, for example in support of pharmacists and dentists, but we want to explore this further and work with the professions to create new and exciting opportunities in other areas such as nursing."
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:
"It is more important than ever that we do all we can to provide high quality routes into jobs. We must retain our skills so that we can take advantage of the upturn when it comes.
"I am delighted that we are doubling the number of apprenticeships on offer in local government - jobs which are all about providing the key services we all use and depend upon, improving the quality of life for local residents and helping those most in need.
"With this expansion of apprenticeship places, more young people will be given the chance to earn while they learn, and take a first step towards a rewarding and varied career in a vital sector."
Notes to Editors
1. John Denham ad Ed Balls will meet public sector apprentices at a visit in Southampton on Monday morning ahead of regional Cabinet. For details or to bid for a Minister call the DIUS or DCSF press offices on 07699741220 or 020 79256789.
2. For more information on the new apprenticeships campaign featuring Sir Alan Sugar and National Apprenticeships Week go tohttp://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/
3. Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew England 's state secondary schools estate during the lifetime of the programme. The Government is investing £9.3billion in BSF during the 2008-2011 spending period - part of the overall £21.9billion schools capital funding settlement. The latest local authority projections for new, rebuilt or refurbished schools to be opened under BSF are: 115 in 2009/10; 165 in 2010/11, rising to at least 200 new schools every year thereafter.
BSF is already providing apprenticeships and other training placements, via Local Education Partnerships established to deliver the new and revamped schools on the ground. From June 2009 this will be a requirement for all existing and future projects - with an initial target of 1000 places to be created in existing and procurement BSF schemes, subject to the number of procurements being launched.
This builds upon the requirement set by DIUS and the LSC last March to ensure that investment in Building Colleges for the Future will not only result in cutting-edge facilities - but also investment in skills and training by expecting all contractors who access these funds to have in place a formal training plan that maximises access to Apprenticeships, work based learning and other training opportunities.
4. The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learners Bill will today get its second reading in the House of Commons - setting out the first complete overhaul of apprenticeships since the early19th century. The new legislation will put apprenticeships on a statutory basis, establish the entitlement to an apprenticeship place for every suitably qualified young person who wants one - with a choice of two industry or service sectors.
The legislation also:
* gives all employees the right to request training during their working lives and puts in place a stronger, more accountable and effective infrastructure to oversee further education and training;
* gives local authorities responsibility for securing education and training for all 16 to 19 year olds, to create a single, joined up offer for all children and young people from 0 to 19;
* requires all secondary schools to include apprenticeships as part of the careers education they provide for all pupils;
* establishes new Skills Funding Agency to fund post-19 education and training; oversee the expansion of apprenticeships; and education and training of those in adult custody.
Other key parts of the Bill are listed below:
Requiring schools to provide information, advice and guidance on apprenticeships where they consider this would be in the best interests of pupils
* Strengthening Children's Trusts by putting Children's Trust Boards on a statutory footing and extending the duty to co-operate to promote children's well-being to include all maintained schools, Academies, Six Form Colleges, FE colleges and Jobcentre Plus;
* extending the powers schools and colleges currently have to search for weapons to cover alcohol, drugs and stolen items;
* enabling Ofsted to publish a new health check statement for schools which will reward successful schools by paving the way for a move from a three year to a five or six year inspection cycle, and enable attention to be focused on schools more in need of support;
* placing responsibility for securing education for young people in juvenile custody with local authorities to align more closely the education that young offenders receive while in custody with that available in the mainstream; giving all employees the right to request time away from their core duties for training which will improve the employee's effectiveness at work and the performance of the employer's business and;
* establishing Ofqual as an independent regulator of qualifications and assessment, reporting to Parliament, to improve confidence in standards, and transfer the Qualification and Curriculum Authority's non-regulatory functions to a new Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency.
5. For further information, please contact: The Further Education desk on 020 3300 8883.
