Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director for Transformation and Resources, to provide the Committee with an update on the progress of the apprenticeship programme and the implications of the apprenticeship levy and targets for the Council.

The Committee considered the report on the apprenticeship programme and the implications of the Government’s apprenticeship levy and targets for the Council, as presented by Daksha Desai, Head of Workforce Programme, and Maxine Sobers, Workforce Resourcing Manager. The report set out the background to the Council’s apprenticeship programme, the recruitment process and roles that had been generated, the programme completion details, issues that had arisen during the programme, a review of progress against objectives and details of the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship target to be introduced under the Enterprise and Finance Acts 2016.

The Committee considered the level of apprenticeship starts across London Boroughs as set out at paragraph 7.4 of the report. It was noted that there were different approaches to apprenticeship schemes, with some Councils employing a large number of apprentices each year as a work experience, with no prospect of an opportunity for any of the participants to apply for a permanent position at the end of their scheme. At Haringey, there had been more focus on creating longer-term employment opportunities for young people at the Council.

In relation to the apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship target, it was noted that further detail on these schemes was awaited, in particular whether schools staff would be included in the apprenticeship target and whether there would be any penalties for not meeting the target. The legal advisor to the Committee noted that the legislation stated that there was a need to have ‘due regard’ to the target, which indicated that it was unlikely that there would be penalties imposed for failing to achieve them. The Committee noted that the Council had the option of not doing anything to recruit to the apprenticeship target, or aiming to recruit to the full number of apprentices as set out in the target, or a combination whereby a number of apprentices were recruited and some existing staff were reclassified as apprentices in order to meet the target figure. Work was currently taking place to identify where the organisation would particularly benefit from apprenticeship roles, such as roles that were currently difficult to recruit to, and would therefore offer genuine career prospects for apprentices in these areas.

It was confirmed that whichever option the Council pursued, the apprenticeship levy was compulsory, and that any levy funds not drawn down by the Council after 24 months would revert to the Government. The Committee expressed the view that efforts should be made to draw down this funding, given that the levy was compulsory, and suggested that the Council speak to those local authorities that were currently recruiting significant numbers of apprentices for advice. It was suggested that even if a number of apprenticeships were created with no prospect of a more permanent job at the end of them, a year’s work experience would still be valuable for many young people and would enhance their employment potential more generally. The Committee asked what the impact on funding would be for apprenticeships that were not completed; officers advised that the guidance on this was not yet confirmed, but there had been indications that in such cases 20% of the funding may be withheld.

Given that it was likely that the Council would have chosen to recruit 25-30 apprentices as a progression on this year’s work, had these legislative changes not been put forward, it was suggested that the Council proceed with that recruitment anyway and seek to make up the rest of the target with a more ‘work experience’ model of apprenticeship opportunities.

While it was noted that the current financial context may affect the course of action the Council chose to take, it was noted that Members would need to consider their political priorities and to take decisions relating to any proposed use of resources accordingly. Committee Members noted the importance of apprenticeship schemes, but recognised that there was a need for balance between the benefits and contribution towards the corporate priorities that apprenticeships would offer and the significant salary cost and management resources required to support this, particularly in the current financial position. The Committee noted that there was an identified need for additional support for managers taking on young people as apprentices, and that additional capacity for support would need to be provided if the number of apprenticeships offered were to increase significantly, particularly if the Council was to achieve its aim of reaching out to those young people who were harder to engage with. The Committee suggested that this might be another area where the Council could speak to other local authorities for advice. It was noted that recruitment of young people identified as harder to engage with, such as care leavers and NEETs, had been challenging and there were several reasons for this. It was suggested that, for some of these young people, initial training may be more effective, prior to them entering a formal apprenticeship scheme.

With regards to the apprenticeship target, the Committee suggested that until further guidance was received, the Council should presume that schools would be included. It was advised that if this were the case, schools would be responsible for paying their share of the levy.

The Committee agreed to receive a further report on apprenticeships at the start of the 2017/18 financial year, with proposed next steps and setting out the input required from the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.