“Be more open with industry on the apprenticeship levy”, says NFB to the Government
The House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee has published a report assessing the governments performance in delivering its Productivity Plan, including the apprenticeship levy.
Iain Wright MP, chair of the BIS committee, criticised the Productivity Plan by calling it “a vague collection of existing policies”, instead of “being a clear and distinctive roadmap as to how Britain will close our productivity gap.” On the apprenticeship levy, the committee pointed out three key points of concern: the lack of consultation with industry, the lack of detail on how the levy will be implemented, and that skills policy should be truly employer-led rather than government-driven.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) agrees with the concerns and calls for greater collaboration between government and employers. Paul Bogle, head of policy and research for the NFB, said: “There is a feeling, especially in the construction industry, that the apprenticeship levy is not entirely driven by the desire to address the current shortage of skilled labourers, but by the government’s self-imposed target of three million new apprenticeships by 2020. Such a target is a blunt instrument for tackling the skills crisis without fully assessing actual apprenticeship needs and without recognising that different methods of training may be appropriate in different industries.”
Bogle added: “The government needs to engage more openly with industry before pressing too far ahead with the current proposals. The NFB would relish the opportunity to provide useful input in this discussion.”
