Lord Young of Norwood Green - Apprenticeships minister

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ePolitix.com speaks to apprenticeships minister Lord Young of Norwood Green about Apprenticeship Week and the benefits of apprenticeships to employers and young people.

Question: The second annual Apprenticeship Week will take place from Monday 23rd February. Can you tell us about some of the events and activities organised?

Lord Young: We've got of a whole range of activities planned at the national, regional and local level. I was a former telecom apprentice and as part of Apprenticeship Week, myself and other MPs that have been apprentices will be going back to the floor.

You can also look forward to some key announcement on maximising the number of apprenticeships early next week. We announced overall targets for spending another 140 million on apprenticeship. As part of this we are creating another 35,000 new apprenticeships; 21,000 in the public sector and another 15,000 in the private sector. You can look forward to some interesting announcements on how we can deliver those targets in the public and private sector next week.

Question: What are the key objectives of Apprenticeship Week?

Lord Young: The key objective is really about raising the profile of apprenticeships. We want to highlight the benefits of apprenticeships to employers, young people, their parents and their teachers.

Apprenticeships have gone through a major renaissance but there is still a lack of public awareness about them. When you talk to people about apprenticeships they will mention plumbers, electrician and maybe engineers when in reality apprenticeships now cover 180 different job frameworks. You now have apprentices in finance, business administration, IT and a whole range of areas whereas in the past people would never have thought of these professions offering apprenticeships.

Question: Sir Alan Sugar is heading the new apprenticeship advertising campaign. What are the key messages of this campaign?

Lord Young: We wanted a well known, high profile public figure to encourage businesses and people in general to think about how apprenticeships can contribute to the success of their business. We don't want them to see apprentices as a burden but to see them as playing a really valuable role. The way I see it is that what apprentices bring to a business is a fresh young pair of eyes. They are going to learn about the business but also often question employers about why they do things a certain way. This brings a new innovative approach and also demonstrates to business people that what they are getting in an apprentice is enthusiasm and commitment.

This is not just our view. The Apprenticeship Ambassador Network recently funded a study by Warwick University on the net benefit to employers of investment in apprenticeship training. That study concluded that there are real tangible business benefits such as increased productivity and a more innovative workforce. Alan Sugar is spreading the good news message to businesses and telling them that apprenticeships can make a really valuable contribution to their business.

We are going to come out of the economic downturn. There is going to be a revival and what we'll find will be a shortage of a skilled workforce. What we are saying to employers is don't wait for that situation; start to grow your own skilled workforce. It is a really great investment.

Question: How do apprenticeships work?

Lord Young: What we hope to do is create a one-stop-shop for apprenticeships. In April we are launching the National Apprenticeship Service. If a business wants help in creating apprenticeships then they will be directed to the National Apprenticeship Service.

At the same time we are rolling out a database service called the National Apprenticeship Vacancy Matching Service. I'm afraid at the moment it has a very unattractive name but I'm hoping that we will be able to change the name to something like Apprenticeships Online in order to make it slightly more cool and snappy. But the idea behind the database is really good. The database will allow employers to register their vacancies on to the network and for young people to go onto the database and see what apprenticeships are on offer and apply. We have already had the first case of a young person successfully getting an apprenticeship as a result using the database.

Our aim is to make access to apprenticeships easier through things such as the one-stop-shop service through the National Apprenticeship Service. They will have a field force of a 100 people who will go out and about around the country assisting employers who want to create new apprenticeships. We are also trying to influence attitudes within schools and colleges to make sure that there is genuine, impartial advice and guidance for young people. We want to move away from the unfortunate situation in a number of schools where the only option often presented to young people is that if you want to get on in life you need to go to university. What we want schools to say to young people is that it's not an either or option, it's an 'and' choice. You can go to university if that's what you prefer, but that won't be for all young people, there is another great career option for you. Think about an apprenticeship.

There are lots of benefits and we want to get the message to young people that you still might end up getting a degree even if you go via the apprenticeship route. So it's opening up peoples mind to be more receptive to the real value of apprenticeships. There is a great message for young people there that they can earn while they learn.

Question: What are the benefits of doing an apprenticeship?

Lord Young: To me there are two main benefits. Firstly, it opens up a real career structure to them. They will get great training; we don't define it as an apprenticeship unless they've got a proper work placement. They will get an accredited qualification when they finish their apprenticeship which is a real transferable skill and they can take that with them and apply it to a whole range of jobs.

They can also progress through the particular company. After all if a company has invested in you as an apprentice and you've demonstrated to them how good you are then there are real career development opportunities.

And I think what apprentices bring to a company or a business that a graduate can't often bring immediately is to understand the world of work. They will have a better understanding of simple things such as turning up to work on time and understanding how a company works. The second benefit is that for many young people they will be able to earn while they learn.

Question: How do apprenticeships benefit employers and aid businesses? Is there enough awareness among employers about the benefits of apprenticeships?

Lord Young: I don't think there is enough awareness among employers. I think there are two things that businesses find off-putting about apprenticeships. Firstly, if you ask them about apprenticeships you often hear; "yeah, I might think about it but there is too much responsibility, there is all that bureaucracy and red tape". Or employers think, "I've got enough trouble surviving in today's climate now you want me to take on an apprentice".

In response to this we want to say two things. We want to say first of all we will strip away that bureaucracy. We will take away that administrative burden with the introduction of the National Apprenticeship Service which will guide them through the process.

Second, to get over the message that taking on an apprentice is a really good business investment. We've got a number of case studies that demonstrate that employers who have taken on apprentices have found that they have made a really good contribution to their business.

They have provided them with commitment and enthusiasm and allowed the employer to build up a skill base. It means that employers don't have to scratch around in the labour market, often recruiting people who are not really quite suitable that end up leaving because they are not doing what the employer wants them to do. By taking on an apprentice they are going to develop somebody who has got the skills for their business.

Question: How will you encourage employers to take on apprentices in the current economic climate?

Lord Young: The government will cover the cost of training in the 16 to 18 age range and we also pay for 50 per cent of the training in the 19 plus group. So that is a good contribution from government. As I said before we have set up the one-stop-shop in the National Apprenticeship Service which will make the whole process easier for employers.

The government also will be leading by example. The public sector has something like 20 per cent of the workforce but only 10 per cent of total apprenticeships. We have a huge drive in the public sector to take on more apprentices and I think that's important because it's not just the government telling businesses that you should take on apprentices but we are leading by example. As I said before there will be 35,000 extra new apprenticeship places of which 21,000 will be in the public sector.

We are also looking at all new major projects, whether it is the Olympics or Crossrail and ensuring that those employers who after all are getting big public sector contracts have got a commitment to training and apprenticeships within those contracts. In future all new public procurement contracts will require a commitment to training and apprenticeships and we will make sure there are no legal obstacles to that and we think that's going to change the climate.

We want to ensure that we create Group Training Associations for small and medium sized businesses that might see the administrative burden of having apprenticeships as a bit daunting in the current climate. In a Group Training Association there will be people taking away some of that administrative burden. They will provide the training and then what the smaller employers will do is provide the work placement for the young person. Therefore, it is a more attractive environment for the SME's to take on apprentices.

Question: How important are apprentices to the future of the UK economy?

Lord Young: It is hugely important. As you know from the findings of the Leitch report it is vitally important to the economic future of the UK. If you look at the government's track record on apprenticeships it is something I am immensely proud of. In 1997 the figures for apprenticeships were vastly different from today. We had something like 65,000 apprentices in 1997 and only 27 per cent of those were completing their apprenticeships. So nearly three-quarters of those people weren't completing their apprenticeships. Switch to last year and we had a quarter of a million people in apprenticeships and we saw something like 64 per cent of those actually completing their apprenticeships and that to me is a renaissance.

We've witnessed that revival and now the task for the government is to sustain and nourish apprenticeships in the current environment which is going to be quite a challenge that is why we are focusing a lot on the public sector as well as the private sector. Our two targets are that in 2013 our aim will be to ensure that every young person who wants an apprenticeship can have one, which is an ambitious target.

If you switch to 2020 the Leitch target would be something like a quarter of a million people starting an apprenticeship with 190,000 finishing which will work out to approximately something like 76 per cent completion . It is an ambitious programme but it is absolutely something that we need if we are going to bridge that skills gap that Leitch identified. And perhaps even more importantly offer hope to many young people that here is a real way to develop a great career opportunity.