Transport: Apprentices

(asked on 2nd November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have achieved their target, set in 2015, to create 30,000 apprenticeships in the transport sector; if not, why not; and what fresh initiatives they are planning to create more apprenticeships.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 16th November 2020

In 2016 the Government set ambitions through the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy to increase apprenticeships in road and rail client bodies to help address skills shortages in the transport sector and ensure that the transport sector has the capacity and capability to deliver planned investment. The target to create 30000 apprenticeships was deliberately set at an ambitious level to encourage bold action from industry. Whilst the target was not met, significant progress has been made during this time to embed apprenticeships as the recognised way of getting skilled individuals into the transport industry. It is a mark of the growing recognition for apprenticeships that the number of apprenticeships has grown steadily since this target was set.

The Department is committed to ensuring that the transport industry continues to support the creation of high quality apprenticeships, and in the recent Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) annual report, we committed to updating the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy in early 2021 to reflect current challenges and priorities. We recognise that this is more important than ever in this challenging economic climate.

We will continue to work with the Department for Education to ensure that its Adult Education policy and FE reform proposals reflect the needs of the transport industry, and that employers are able to continue to take on apprentices to deliver our ambitious plans to build the transport infrastructure of the future.

We will also support transport employers to take advantage of broader training and employment offers, particularly those that support young people into employment opportunities that may lead to apprenticeships, such as DWP’s Kickstart scheme.

We will continue to work with industry partners on schemes such as Engineering UK’s Code of Practice, to ensure that transport apprenticeships and careers are available and accessible to people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

We are exploring what more can be done through contractual and procurement levers to encourage the supply chain to continue to invest in apprentices and other skills and training initiatives.

Reticulating Splines