David Way: Public Apprenticeships – leading by example

Getting a place at Oxford or Cambridge can be easier than winning an Apprenticeship at some leading UK companies. This bold statement highlights the quality and prestige of Apprenticeships. We need opportunities of this calibre for all the young people and adults who are capable and keen, to learn in a true work environment.

Getting a place at Oxford or Cambridge can be easier than winning an Apprenticeship at some leading UK companies. This bold statement highlights the quality and prestige of Apprenticeships. We need opportunities of this calibre for all the young people and adults who are capable and keen, to learn in a true work environment.

Some companies, like British Telecom and Erickson, who can have up to 75 applicants for every Apprenticeship place, have incredibly successful schemes running. World-class Apprenticeships, the recent review of Apprenticeships, looked at these successes and called for more like them. It highlighted the need for a huge increase in the number of Apprenticeships but did not restrict its aims to large corporate employers. The review also called for SMEs to grow their involvement and for the public sector to do much more.

The Prime Minister has also discussed his ambition for the public sector to emanate high quality private sector schemes. These calls have seen the creation of a programme of work focusing on Public Sector Apprenticeship opportunities.

The drive will be led by Ian Watmore, Permanent Secretary of DIUS. He has been designated as the Civil Service champion and will work alongside the permanent Director of the National Apprenticeship Service when they are appointed. Their joint role will be to invigorate public sector organisations to offer significantly more Apprenticeships.

The first stage of their programme is already underway. The Secretaries of State for DIUS and DCSF have written to all their cabinet colleagues stressing the importance of Apprenticeships – and calling for information. This information will enable a wide analysis of apprenticeships in the public sector. We will then be able to quantify the current position, highlight barriers, identify potential targets and suggest wider opportunities.

We know there are some very real practical and legal barriers we will need to take into consideration. These include restrictions on the employment of under-18s in the public sector. Some occupations such as the police service, fire service, the education workforce and the NHS, have minimum ages. In others, there are statutory or regulatory requirements and supporting standards which must be satisfied. Some parts of the public sector also set high minimum qualification levels for entry and we must understand if these are appropriate. They all need to be considered in relation to possible Apprenticeship frameworks and recruitment.

Despite these barriers, we are resolute that we want to see Apprenticeships expanded in the widest possible range of commercial and public sector services. We already have a relevant apprenticeship framework in business administration and scope for customised apprenticeships frameworks to cover other corporate disciplines such as IT, procurement, project management, finance and human resource management. We will look to develop a cross-Departmental approach to this and will work with Government Skills, the SSC for the Central Government to do so.

We also want to work closely with the TUC and the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network (AAN). Both are keen to extend their work with public sector employers and AAN already boasts public sector representatives from DIUS, The Department of Health and a Local Authority. We know their knowledge and input will be invaluable.

Extolling the benefits of Apprenticeships will need to take place in every government department, agency and public sector organisation. We will look at specialist marketing and communications for the Public Sector to help us do this.

We take encouragement from those Public Sector organisations who, despite barriers, have already demonstrated a considerable, and impressive, approach to Apprenticeships.

The MoD has an extensive range of Apprenticeships incorporated into their training portfolio. Their expertise in the development of specific programmes and in practical delivery of over 40 different types of apprenticeship framework is unrivalled. Their training is delivered ‘in-house’, with specific requirements being interwoven with operational requirements. And there is a significant portability for when personnel re-enter civilian life. This ensures the MoD apprentice is set up for life.

The Health Sector also has a wide range of Apprenticeships frameworks in dental nursing, health & social care, optical, pharmacy services and support services in health care. And in Local Government, frameworks cover most occupations including: business administration, IT, amenity horticulture, leisure and recreation, housing, community development, environmental and youth work. We will disseminate all these examples of best practice to bring the rest of our public sector colleagues on board.

Public Sector Apprenticeships are not just high up on our priorities. They are at the top of our priorities. We know we need to lead by example and we will. We need to offer learners an empowering way into an interesting career. An Apprenticeship is the perfect vehicle to do this.

David Way, National Director of Apprenticeships, LSC