Apprenticeships 'a cross-party priority'

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Graham Hoyle, chief executive of the Association of Learning Providers, praises the coalition's approach to apprenticeships.

Apprenticeship Week 2011 runs from 7-11 February.

Could you tell us why the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) considers Apprenticeship Week to be of such importance?

Apprenticeships are a growth industry – they are increasingly being positioned as important in terms of government policy. This is all good news, of course.

We still need to get the messages about the importance and value of apprenticeships across to the general public, much more effectively than we do now. Therefore to have Apprenticeship Week as a focus is critically important, so that we can gather the information needed and promote it specifically. It is absolutely vital to get the general message across.

Too much of society still feels that apprenticeships are something from the past, that have disappeared, or that they have merely been reinvented.

Actually there are more now than at any time in history.

We have work to do in getting this reality across; clearly a campaign such as Apprenticeship Week gives us assistance in doing just that.

The ALP's members deliver most of the apprenticeships training in England. As such you have a real on-the-ground understanding of the effectiveness of apprenticeships. What more would you like to see done in promoting their value?

Whilst we still need to be pushing the value of apprenticeships to potential apprentices, the biggest challenge is in persuading employers of the benefits to their businesses of the apprenticeship process.

Barely 10 per cent of employers in this country employ apprentices. We know from various surveys and research over the last few years that the demand for apprenticeships is greater than the number of apprenticeships available. The biggest challenge, therefore, is in getting employers to open apprenticeship places.

This is a government-supported programme, but most of the costs do fall on employers. If it was actually a government programme that they were paying for, you could understand why employers might not be very keen to pursue the idea of taking on an apprentice.

The reality is that the employers who have taken on apprentices say that they are vital to the prosperity and profitability of their business. This is the message that we have to plug like mad, and Apprenticeship Week does give us that opportunity.

Has the coalition started promisingly in its approach to apprenticeships?

Unquestionably. Prior to the election there was the firm message from ministers and shadow ministers that apprenticeships were a cross-party priority.

As a result, it was no surprise that the coalition government continued to focus on apprentices. However, they have not just continued this; they have upped the tempo quite dramatically.

It is surprising, but very welcome, that despite government expenditure reductions, apprenticeship budgets have actually gone up. It is quite remarkable that the budget for this, throughout the course of the next three years, will increase.

The coalition government brought its natural support for apprenticeships into government and quite dramatically increased the emphasis on their importance.

This is clearly good for the members of the Association Learning Providers, but far more than this, we believe it is the correct approach to take.

What more can be done to promote understanding of apprenticeships as a viable career path to young people?

The top priority is that employers are on board, opening up apprenticeship programmes. The fact remains that we cannot actually deal with the demand for apprenticeships from young people now.

There is the implication that, because of the increase in higher education (HE) fees, there will be a proportion of young people who will decide not to take the HE route and will look more energetically at the apprenticeships route. This will, of course, increase demand yet further. Therefore, it is fundamentally the employer end that we need to be working on.

That said, it is vital that all young people properly understand the potential benefits of an apprenticeship. Up until now there have been far too few young people who have been given that information through school. We have been in a decade or two where the sole acceptable route appears to have been to go and get your A-levels and then go to university. That is an excellent route, but it is only one route.

We have argued that you have to get a much more honest appreciation of the variety of different routes through the Information, Advice and Guidance services in schools.

I am delighted that the Department for Education, as it looks at the current Education Bill, is seeking to make the availability of information on apprenticeships mandatory in schools. Politicians of all parties have dithered on that over the last year, but it is fantastic that they are now following through on the idea.

It is important that all young people, of all ability ranges, really understand and appreciate the apprenticeship route, as well as the higher education route, before they make their critical choices.

Will the abolition of Train to Gain adversely affect apprenticeships? Are you convinced that the promised diversion of funds to apprenticeship training will be successful?

Will the abolition of Train to Gain adversely affect apprenticeships? No, the reverse. One of the very first announcements that the coalition government made was when John Hayes, almost within days of coming into office, announced an additional 50,000 apprenticeship places. These are to be delivered by March 2011 and we are on track to deliver that.

I spoke to John Hayes immediately after he made the announcement and I emphasised to him that this would mean apprenticeship growth in the 19+ and 25+ sectors. These were Train to Gain areas. The minister recognised that this was the case.

The withdrawal of Train to Gain means that it is much easier to focus employers on taking their existing adult employees and moving them towards apprenticeship standards. That is a much easier idea to sell, and has fuelled the extra 50,000 apprentices that will start this year.

I will predict that the vast majority of new apprenticeships will be in the 25+ category.

We are seeing a real sea-change in part-trained employees moving into full training. That is good for the employee and for the employer.

In terms of the diverting funds into apprenticeships, we are already seeing a dramatic increase at a growing level. Next year the residue of Train to Gain will have disappeared and providers are already gearing up to increase even further their training output. There will be real pressure on providers to open up even more places for apprenticeship places with employers. That will not be easy and it comes back to making sure that we actually have the arguments to use about benefits to the company

Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow, is the first Member of Parliament to employ an apprentice. Could you see the idea spreading throughout Parliament and would you like to see this happen?

Clearly this is a great story. We do, of course, welcome it and if Robert Halfon is successful, then others certainly ought to give it consideration.

We have to be realistic though about its chances of being widely adopted at Westminster. The scope for apprentices to be taken on and developed successfully through a comprehensive framework is difficult for very small enterprises – such as an MP's office. Nevertheless I really wish Mr Halfon and his apprentice every success.

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