Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage employers to take on apprentices in the transport sector.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Employers in the transport and logistics sector have so far developed 37 high quality apprenticeships in occupations such as air traffic controller and train driver. There were 9,095 starts in this sector in the 2020/21 academic year, with a further 3,125 starts so far in the first quarter of the 2021/22 academic year.
To support apprenticeships in all sectors, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024-25 financial year. The department is also encouraging the use of more flexible training models, such as front-loaded and accelerated training and flexi-job apprenticeships to ensure apprentices are ready to work on-site and can benefit from high-quality long-term training that an apprenticeship provides.
To support the increased uptake of high-quality apprenticeships in the haulage sector, last August we launched a new version of the Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship. The department has increased funding for this apprenticeship from £5,000 to £7,000 to support providers delivering this standard. The department has also supported the industry to develop a new Urban Delivery Driver apprenticeship, which enables apprentices to obtain a Cat C licence alongside a range of driver skills.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of heavy goods vehicle driver shortages on local authority bin collections.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is in regular contact with the waste sector and local authorities to ensure we have up to date information about current waste collection vehicle staffing levels.
We are aware of some current impacts that heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver shortages are having on local authority bin collections. We continue to work with the Department for Transport and the other departments involved to consider all the available options.
The Government has already taken action on HGV driver shortages, including ramping up vocational test capacity so 3,000 practical tests are available each week. The Government has also confirmed funding of up to £7,000 per apprenticeship for people undertaking lorry driver training, extended driver hours and temporarily eased restrictions on delivery curfews.
The Government is working with industry and supporting job seekers to take roles in the profession. As part of this, there are increased incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice across the economy as we recover from the pandemic. Employers will receive £3,000 for new apprentices of any age who join their organisation from 1 April to 30 September 2021.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on improving the (a) provision of training and (b) recruitment of large goods vehicle drivers to tackle the shortage of those drivers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
In respect of England, we are supporting apprenticeships, including to train lorry drivers. A revised standard will be available from 2 August 2021 attracting £7,000 in apprenticeship levy funding. There is also an incentive payment of £3,000 available for new apprentices of any age with an employment start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.
The Department for Work and Pensions is developing a scheme to train jobseekers in HGV driving. The Flexible Support Fund is available to help the unemployed or those in receipt of Universal Credit renew their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).
On 20 July 2021, the Government announced a package of measures to support road haulage industry. This includes more capacity for driving tests.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing grants to people wishing to undertake large goods vehicle driving qualifications.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We know that the costs of training can be a barrier both to new entrants and business. We are already supporting the industry train new drivers, including through apprenticeships and support for jobseekers.
The new apprenticeship which includes training for a Category C+E licence, which is available from 2 August, will attract £7,000 in funding. There is also an incentive payment of £3,000 available for new apprentices who have an employment start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.
A number of proposals to further support the training of heavy goods vehicle drivers have been put forward by industry sources and we are reviewing these proposals. We wish to support the sector in overcoming these barriers to joining this vital industry.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Government is providing to local authorities to assist with the appointment of more waste collection vehicle drivers during the shortage of people in that profession.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is in regular contact with the waste sector and local authorities to ensure we have up to date information about current waste collection vehicle staffing levels. We are aware of some current impacts that HGV driver shortages are having on recycling collections and continue to work with the Department for Transport and the other departments involved to consider all the available options.
The Government has already taken action on heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver shortages, including ramping up vocational test capacity so 3,000 practical tests are available each week. The Government has also confirmed funding of up to £7,000 per apprenticeships for people training to be a lorry driver.
There are also increased incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice across the economy as we recover from the pandemic. Employers will receive £3,000 for new apprentices of any age who join their organisation from 1 April to 30 September 2021.
The Government is also working with industry and supporting job seekers to take roles in the profession.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the (a) recruitment and (b) training of heavy goods vehicle drivers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We are supporting apprenticeships, including to train lorry drivers. A revised standard will be available from 1 August 2021 attracting £7,000 in apprenticeship levy funding. There is also an incentive payment of £3,000 available for new apprentices of any age with an employment start date of 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021.
The Department for Work and Pensions is developing a scheme to train jobseekers in HGV driving. The Flexible Support Fund is available to help the unemployed or those in receipt of Universal Credit renew their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).
The Department has provided a grant for the non-profit initiative Road to Logistics to train military service leavers, ex-offenders and the long term unemployed to move into jobs in the logistics sector, including lorry driving.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department for Transport (DfT) remains fully committed to the Government’s apprenticeship agenda. Due to the diverse nature of our work, the central department (DfTc) and our executive agencies (DfT Group) have developed localised strategies to allow us to work towards the Government target.
As of 3rd February 2021, there were 302 staff across the Department who are apprentices. This figure includes apprentices across the central department (DfTc) and our four Executive Agencies (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Vehicle Certification Agency). This is 1.92% of the total staff employed across the DfT Group (headcount data taken as of 31 December 2020).
This figure is made up of apprentices who have been externally recruited as well as existing employees currently undertaking an apprenticeship. This figure does not include apprentices recently recruited by the Department who are waiting to start their apprenticeship programme.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
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 - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to increase the number of apprentices in the rail industry.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The department is committed to increasing the number of apprentices in the industry, as we set out in the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy in 2016, working with the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce. We have been pleased to see increased numbers of apprentices in both road and rail, including in the supply chain.
We continue to work closely with industry on the skills agenda during this challenging period including through the continuation of apprenticeship programmes.
We also recognise the importance of schemes that can bridge the gap to taking on a full apprenticeship, such as traineeships, work placements and pre-apprenticeship programmes. We actively encourage industry to take advantage of DWP’s recently launched ‘Kickstarter’ scheme.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on meeting the 2.3 per cent public sector apprenticeship target; and when his Department will meet that target.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
As of 31 March 2020, the Civil Service has achieved a total of 2.1% of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3% by March 2021. Department for Transport (DfT) has currently achieved 1.3% of the total staff employed within the department for 2020/21. Given this target is a percentage of the total workforce, the percentage changes in line with workforce fluctuations over time therefore making it challenging to predict when a department will meet it. The data for 2018/19 can be found here. The data for 2019/20 will be released on gov.uk by the end of September 2020. Due to the diverse nature of our work, the central department (DfTc) and our executive agencies (DfT Group) have developed localised strategies to allow us to continue towards the Government target. In September 2020 DfTc additionally transitioned to a cohort-based model of recruitment for apprenticeships; further strengthening our ambition for apprenticeship recruitment, and providing economies of scale to improve quality of provision and overall employee experience for the apprenticeship community.
Departments are committed to increasing the number of apprentices across the Civil Service and continue to work towards the 2.3% target. The impact of the current pandemic has slowed recruitment due to priority work and logistics. With the current strategy and targets coming to an end in April 2021, the Civil Service is already focusing on how to continue to support the apprenticeship agenda and drive forward apprenticeship recruitment, pulling on the Plan for Jobs initiative and considering the current economic situation.