Help urged for smaller firms on apprenticeships
Jul 31 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal
CALLS have been made to help small businesses meet Government plans in five years’ time to offer every school leaver who wants one an apprenticeship.
The North East Chamber of Commerce has backed the Government’s push to improve the skills of future employees and said the move to enroll more than half a million youngsters on apprenticeships was a bold initiative that would ultimately help firms tackle skills shortages.
But it is concerned that without the right support for businesses that do not currently offer apprenticeships, the scheme will fail to meet its targets. NECC is writing to the Government to express fears that many smaller firms will be expected to offer apprenticeships, despite not having the resources available to do so.
It believes that the administrative burden of taking on apprentices will mean that many smaller firms will be unable to do so.
Joanne Lavender, NECC skills policy adviser, said: “For certain sectors of our economy, apprenticeships are established and recognised as a valuable way of entering the workforce. Clearly the Government recognises their importance and we welcome the ambitious commitment to get more school leavers to enter apprenticeships.
“The challenge we see for the North East is how to encourage firms to offer such schemes. While larger companies have the infrastructure in place to take on school leavers in apprenticeship roles, many smaller firms just do not have the capacity to take on school leavers in this way.
“In its current state, the Draft Apprenticeship Bill is long on rhetoric but short on measures that would encourage businesses to offer places. We will be responding to the Bill with the views of our members and trust that the final, published Bill, will take into account our concerns.”
The Department for Children, Schools and Families set out the headline targets in the draft Apprenticeship Bill. Last year, 183,000 people in England and Wales took an apprenticeship but by 2020 the Government wants that number to hit 500,000.
