Agenda item

To report on the Council’s activity to promote and provide apprenticeship opportunities to Haringey residents.

Steve Carr, Assistant Director for Economic Development and Growth, reported that the Apprenticeship Levy was a national programme that was financed by a levy on employers above a certain size.  It covered the costs of training only.  Employers could pass on the cost of up to 25% of their contribution. In Haringey, there was a borough wide target for the creation of 200 apprenticeships.  This target was shared with schools. 

The Haringey employment and skills team was currently based at Wood Green library and was shortly to be re-branded as Haringey Works.  The function of the team was to market opportunities.  They had recently held a successful event with Transport for London which had resulted in 19 residents taking up a range of opportunities.  Discussions were taking place with a range of other employers, such as the BBC, Open Reach and the Metropolitan Police regarding possible similar future events.  The strategy was now to try and attract employers to come into the borough rather than encouraging young people to attend careers fairs elsewhere. 

The other area of development was the construction programme, which involved requiring building contractors to take on apprentices.  Other contractors had taken apprenticeship pledges as part of their pitches to do business with the Council.   There were also apprenticeship requirements in planning, with all developers with Section 106 obligations required to take them on.  Benchmarking was taking place with other London boroughs.  Statistics from London Councils suggested that Haringey had a way to go to achieve the same level of success as other London boroughs, many of which had more mature apprenticeship programmes that had been running for a number of years. 

£700,000 per year was so far being collected.  The target for 2019/20 was for 130 apprentices to be taken on by the Council and schools.  Work was currently taking place with Human Resources to see how a better support mechanism could be developed for apprentices so that training plans can be developed and there was greater pastoral care.  Consideration was also being given to how apprenticeships could be promoted more effectively alongside other opportunities, particularly within schools.  An Apprenticeship Strategy and Programme was starting to be developed and he was happy to report further to the Panel on this once further progress had been made.

Panel Members noted that Islington’s Fairness Commission had led to them to require every contractor to provide apprenticeships and that their procurement function had facilitated this.  The cost of the wages of an apprentice was not high and unlikely to be a major barrier to employing them. Homes for Haringey currently employed a significant number of apprentices and it was felt that there was scope for the Council to do more and to be ambitious.

Mr Carr reported that the Council had learnt from Homes for Haringey and was now trying to embed apprenticeships as part of its own provision.  New procurement processes required contractors for contracts over a certain size to offer apprenticeships.  These would start to come through this year.  Consideration was being given to how much pay would be appropriate for apprentices and the possibility of offering graduate level apprenticeships.  Directors were now having to consider including provision for apprentices in any restructuring exercise.

In answer to a question, Mr Carr reported that the Cabinet Member for Local Investment and Economic Growth had raised the issue of a more co-ordinated London wide approach to apprenticeships with London Councils and the possibility of obtaining assistance from the Mayor’s office.  Most apprenticeships lasted between 18 months and 2 years.  The Council was currently working with Haringey Business Alliance and though Tottenham Opportunity Investment Fund to promote apprenticeships in smaller companies and there had been some notable successes.  The Cabinet Member wished to progress the Community Wealth Building agenda and saw apprenticeships as a key part of it.

Panel Members commented that the Apprenticeship Levy had been in place since 2017 and progress had been slow until recently.  The previous lack of a Human Resource function had been a barrier to progress.  It was noted that there were currently more people over the age of 65 working for the Council than under 25 and there were also approximately 500 agency or supply staff.  There was a need for rapid progress so that the need to return funding was avoided. 

Mr Carr responded that the development of apprenticeships was a triangular process involving economic development, procurement and human resources.  He was unaware of any need to return funding but would check and report back.   In answer to another question, he stated that apprenticeship levy funding had been used as a training fund and included training for middle managers.  Creative ways of using the funds were being explored. 

Panel Members felt that bringing back services in-house could provide additional opportunities for promoting apprenticeships.  In addition, partnerships could be formed with charities and further education institutions. It was noted that a wide range of Council services were involved in developing the Apprenticeship Strategy, including youth services.  The needs of care leavers were also being considered, which was of particular importance in view of the Council’s corporate parenting responsibility.

AGREED:

That the Assistant Director for Economic Development and Growth be requested to confirm to the Panel that there has not been a need for the Council to return any funding received under the Apprenticeship Levy.