Apprenticeships: Training Providers

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Wednesday 29th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My Lords, it is not a boast; it is a clear aim. As the House will know, a great deal of emphasis has been put on training and skills in the industrial strategy document. On the demand for apprenticeships, it is true that there has been a 59% fall-off, but that is not the whole story because between March and May there was a 47% increase, so the net decline was 2.8%. However, the overall picture—for which there is anecdotal evidence—is that over the next 24 months employers are looking to bed in the changes, and they are working very hard to do so.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, although it is probable that many large employers are perfectly content to see the Government do as much as they can to encourage apprenticeships, is the noble Viscount aware that in some sectors—I particularly refer him to the creative industries—the apprenticeship levy does not work terribly well? Those sectors do not resist paying the levy, obviously, but they do not find it particularly helpful because of the inflexible way the benefits from it can be accessed by larger employers who pay it. Looking to the future, and building on the question from the Liberal Democrat Benches, is there a rather more flexible way large employers can develop their own apprenticeship schemes?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Baroness makes an interesting point but we believe that there is enough flexibility in the system. A lot of work is being done with the Institute for Apprenticeships and with employers on the design of apprenticeships to ensure that the approach and the job descriptions are correct for the individual sectors. I know that the noble Baroness has a lot of experience in the creative sectors, which we are looking at very closely.