What do you hope will be discussed at today's apprenticeships summit? What do you hope the session will achieve?
We understand that the summit will involve Vince Cable and Michael Gove. I am as intrigued as anyone else to find out what will be said.
They have asked for us to take some of our front-line providers and we will be taking eight of them.
I am expecting some form of dialogue and debate, with input from the front line, and am hoping that some key issues will be discussed, if not resolved.
I'm certainly hoping that some of the elements in our recently released paper- '
What are apprenticeships (for)?' will be raised, such as the positions of over-25 training and short apprenticeships, both of which are hot issues just now.
I am hoping there will be an open discussion so that people can really understand the scope of apprenticeships. There is a lot of comparatively narrow-minded thinking going on, including the idea that apprenticeships are still just for young people.
Apprenticeships do serve that purpose, but they have gone way beyond that and they are now offering high quality skilled training to the whole of the working population.
We hope this expansion of the apprenticeship programme will be discussed and recognised.
The title of your paper is 'What are apprenticeships (for)?' How would the AELP answer that question?
Apprenticeships are to develop skill levels to an employer-led, sector-led quality standard. In 230 cases they have already been developed, called apprenticeship frameworks.
First of all, on apprenticeships, we need to get people into an employer; they need to be employed and working to meet those standards and achieve those qualifications.
Apprenticeships have always been a competence-based skills-development course, for making people fit for the work that they then have to do.
As our economy has moved away from the traditional manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors, we now have a service based economy. Over the last 15 years we have embraced service sectors and transformed the apprenticeship concept to suit this side of the economy, which has traditionally been burgeoning. As a result we now have a mass market of service sector apprenticeships.
We have also extended the age point at which people can start apprenticeships, which is critical for the upskilling of the existing population.
The focus on apprenticeships post-25 is a comparatively new development. Could you tell us more about the importance of this?
The previous government were attempting to address adult upskilling through their Train to Gain programme. That attracted large numbers and did start to develop an effective upskilling strategy.
Before they came into power both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives made it clear that they did not like Train to Gain and that they would scrap it, which they have done.
However, the Conservative party green paper of less than two years ago made it quite clear that they were going to invest £775million in developing real all-age apprenticeships and that is exactly what they have done.
I do hope that the government will be ready to reclaim that policy and take the credit for its effective development.
The policy has led to an all-age apprenticeship scheme. We are now using the apprenticeship brand and the apprenticeship work based learning approach to encompass the upskilling of the workforce, so we have moved away from focusing purely on young people.
We now have 440,000 apprentices and the massive increase has been in 25 and over, although we still have seen large increases in 16-18 and 19-24s. This is much higher than anything we have seen in our history in terms of apprenticeships for young people, but we must emphasise that we have now opened the door for upskilling adults as well.
What would the AELP's response be to those who say that extending apprenticeships to the over 25s is 'stretching the apprenticeship brand'?
Some people have said this is stretching the brand, but I disagree.
Any definition of an apprenticeship should not talk about age, sector or duration.
Where I do think there is a real danger of stretching the brand is if, for the best of intentions, we start seeing apprenticeships as the route for unemployed people to pursue employment.
I worry that some organisations and sectors, without thinking it through, are starting to think that the apprenticeship route is also the answer for NEETs and the unemployed.
It is important to remember that an apprentice is employed. It is not as if they get a job when they complete their apprenticeship, they get a job on day one. That is one of the real strengths to bare in mind- an apprenticeship is a job.
Some politicians do not fully understand the mechanics of an apprenticeship. The AELP would argue that there are a lot of people not yet ready to enter an apprenticeship and we need to be preparing them for training and the working world.