Edge convened a private roundtable in Parliament on 24 November to discuss the Apprenticeships Work campaign and establish a broad base of support around our key messages. This is a crucial time for apprenticeship policy in the wake of recent Government announcements on new targets for apprenticeship participation and the Budget just around the corner.
We were joined by MPs and campaign partners, including a senior representative from Skills England. Chaired by Edge’s Executive Director, Olly Newton, the discussion covered many interesting topics including:
- The broad range of barriers inhibiting SME apprenticeship growth, including funding, time, and the move from frameworks to standards.
- Issues that apprenticeship providers face in accessing the SME market.
- The need for better data, specifically on the return on investment of apprenticeships for businesses in certain sectors, as is published in Australia.
- How we can better connect SMEs with young talent e.g. through clearing services being piloted in Defence (and explored in our Chaos to Coordination report) and Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies.
It was generally agreed that we can better utilise what is already working rather than introducing a flashy new policy. The key here is coordination - there is already an excellent network of brokerage services delivered by the National Apprenticeship Hub Network, but these need to be centrally coordinated and funded (as argued for in our Agents of Change report).
We will be publishing an open letter ahead of Small Business Saturday with our recommendations to the government.