Business Innovation and Skills Committee calls for urgent reform of apprenticeships

06-Nov-2012 - Last updated on 11-Mar-2017 at 22:17 GMT

Related tags Apprenticeship Training

The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee (BISC) has published a report highlighting areas of the Government's apprenticeships programme that need reform and called for more to be done to promote apprenticeship schemes as a credible career alternative to further and higher education.

The 11-month Government inquiry said that standards needed to be improved and schemes needed to be better monitored in order to provide the skills that would boost economic growth.

It also called for an “overarching government strategy and clear purpose for the apprenticeship programme,” along with a “formal” definition of apprenticeship. The report recommends a simplified funding system and a review of profit levels among training providers.

Committee chairman Adrian Bailey MP said: “The apprenticeship programme can play a key role in resolving some of this county’s most pressing issues. It can help us to create a more skilled workforce, to increase employment and to generate sustainable economic growth. For these reasons, the government has, quite rightly, made apprenticeships a priority and has devoted significant resources to helping them thrive.

“But money does not guarantee success. The apprenticeship programme needs clarity, oversight and, in these straightened times, to demonstrate that it is providing value for money. There are many areas that require closer scrutiny, careful monitoring or even complete reform.

“This wide-ranging, evidence-based report carefully lays out the areas where we feel the current model could better serve apprentices, their employers, or, in many cases, both. Young people in this country should be given every chance to fulfil their potential in school, in work and in life. An apprenticeships programme that is fit for purpose will help them do this.”

The publication of the report - Apprenticeships - is the culmination of an inquiry that involved visits to Sheffield and Northampton to hear directly from people involved in apprenticeship schemes as well as more traditional Westminster-based evidence sessions.