Member News
The government is to cut red tape to make it easier for employers to take on apprentices, skills secretary John Denham has announced.
He said paperwork, such as monthly reporting requirements, will be scrapped because of concerns that firms were being deterred from offering apprenticeships.
Other forms and certification processes will be simplified, while the number of inspection visits will be reduced.
Denham said: "Employers tell us that if we are to meet our ambitious aims to expand the number of apprenticeships, we need to cut the red tape around the programme.
"There is no reason why firms should have to deal with multiple copies of time-consuming paperwork, provide the same information to several different agencies, be expected to invoice government more often than is necessary, or have to undergo complex inspection requirements when they already have perfectly adequate systems of their own.
"The practical measures we have agreed will enable more employers to meet their present and future skills needs, unimpeded by time-consuming administration."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber warned that standards in apprenticeships should not be compromised "in the name of bureaucracy-busting".
"Too many apprentices have already lost their lives due to inadequate safety standards," he said.
"Instead of basing requirements for apprentices on employers' existing health and safety systems, the government should acknowledge that many of these systems are totally inadequate - hence the high injury and illness rate amongst young people starting work."
Sally Low, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the government had made similar pledges before.
"Ministers have had plenty of time to listen to these issues and yet very little has changed. What we would now like to see is the government actually delivering on its promises."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd