| Apprenticeships ‘to be refocused on the young’ |
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Cable announces extra funding for employers aimed at under-25s. Business secretary Vince Cable has outlined new measures to ensure “more young people benefit from an apprenticeship”, including a cash incentive for small businesses who do not currently employ an apprentice and a stronger emphasis on English and maths skills. An incentive payment of up to £1,500 will be offered to companies with less than 50 employees who hire an apprentice aged between 16 and 24, which the government says will support up to 20,000 new apprenticeships in 2012/13. Although apprenticeships starts soared by 50 per cent to reach 442,700 in the 2010/11 academic year, two in every five enrolments were by employees aged 25 or over. Youth unemployment surpassed the one million mark yesterday, and this week the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank joined critics who maintain that the apprenticeship ‘brand’ should be reserved for young people under 25. Cable said yesterday: “Apprenticeships are proven to boost the life chances of young people, and are a sound investment in our future competitiveness. So when times are tough, it’s right that we provide additional support to help the smallest firms meet training costs.” The government has pledged to simplify the recruitment process and “streamline” health and safety requirements. Apprenticeship providers will also be required to offer training in English and maths up to GCSE-standard (Level 2) for all apprenticeships, while a review of the quality of apprenticeships is in the pipeline for next spring. “We’ll cut no corners on quality. Apprenticeships will remain the gold standard for excellence in vocational training – but where red tape serves no purpose, we’ll strip it away,” Cable added. The government’s latest move was welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses. Its national chairman, John Walker, said: “In particular it is good news that businesses will receive an incentive payment to take help them with the demands of taking on an apprentice. A third of businesses responding to an FSB survey said this would encourage them to take an apprentice on.” But the CBI said the incentive payment “should go further to include employers of any size”. “We’re calling on the government to introduce a Young Britain Credit which would encourage both small and medium-sized firms to recruit young Britons and support training of young people in larger firms,” explained Susan Anderson, CBI director for education and skills. “At the same time, the government must reduce the bureaucracy around taking on these new employees, especially regarding audit, inspection and data collection, so that the incentive payment does not get eaten up by these costs.” Written by Michelle Willaims, 17th November 2011, People Management. |