Agenda item

The Senior Vice-Chair welcomed The RT Hon Anne Milton MP, Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, to the meeting.

The Minister thanked Members and the Senior Vice-Chair for the invitation to speak to them about apprenticeships and post-16 education. She commented that Councils were excellent agents for positive change in many ways, and had excellent knowledge and means to push forward Further Education options in their areas.

She explained the key reforms which had arisen as part of Lord Sainsbury’s review of post-16 technical education, and the new T Levels, the most significant reform in technical education in the previous decade which would include work experience and rival the traditional academic options. The first T Levels would be construction, digital, education, and childcare.

The Minister also set out the work which the Government was undertaking to refresh apprenticeship programmes across the country. They would enable employers to design the standards and end points of apprenticeships, and make them much more attractive for individuals as they would get paid, in some cases gain a degree, have no student debt, and undertake work experience. The new arrangements had been delivered in partnership with the Institute of Apprenticeships.

Members also noted that the Government had developed a National Retraining Scheme, which was a collaboration between the Government, the CBI and the TUC. 49% of the adult population had numeracy skills below what was expected. 25% had literacy skills of an 11 year old or less. Many people did not have basic digital skills. Persuading people to retrain was difficult, and a number of options were being piloted.

In the discussion which followed the following points were raised by Members:

·         Regarding work experience, the Minister set out that children should have 7 meaningful experiences of work before they left school. Work experience should be about skills which would be beneficial across multiple sectors.

·         In response to a question on barriers to young people entering apprenticeships, the Minister stated that the Government were considering this issue, and that local authorities should look at apprenticeships fairs for children and older people looking to retrain to encourage them to join a scheme. The apprenticeship minimum wage was appealing to many young people.

·         Regarding quality assessment of apprenticeships, the Minister set out that the Institute of Apprenticeships would monitor quality, and would look at the rate of uptake and retention of learners. It was important that the frameworks were right, and people received a real qualification.

·         In response to a question on local accountability of FE colleges, the Minister advised that local authorities should be on the Boards of FE colleges to ensure that local priorities were joined up.

·         It was noted that the first T Levels which had been developed were not the areas the Government considered to be top priorities, but simply the first three which had been finalised. It was anticipated that there would shortly be a T Level in Social Care.

The Minister agreed to follow up on some Members’ specific issues which had arisen following the meeting. The Senior Vice-Chair thanked the Minister for attending.

Decision

Members noted the Minister’s presentation.