Making it easier for employers to update apprenticeships is a welcome change. A faster approval process, so long as it maintains quality, will cut red tape, creating more opportunities for workers and enabling employers to meet changing skills needs.
However, greater flexibility is still missing. Today’s dynamic economy means employers and employees must be trusted to get on and create the jobs the UK needs. Employers have long wanted the Growth and Skills Levy to be easier to use; many businesses who pay the levy are unable to access it. For example, levy funds are mostly only available to those who have the same employer for at least one year. This means many employees, especially the million temporary workers on assignment in the UK every day, are arbitrarily locked out from receiving training.
If the government are serious about their goal of 50,000 more apprenticeships for young people, allowing short, modular courses to also be funded by the Levy would be an easy win.
A university clearance-style system is also a positive step. Working in partnership with employers and Mayoral Strategic Authorities will ensure that local communities and businesses have their needs met. Providing young people and employers with data showing actual earnings and job prospects should help to incentivise take up and close skills gaps.
With unemployment high and forecast to rise, government must get the details right on how to deliver these changes. Continued engagement with employers and recruiters is crucial.
