Edge met Minister for Skills, Baroness Jacqui Smith recently to update her on the Apprenticeships Work and Small Business Summer campaigns. At the meeting, in June, the minister expressed her support for Apprenticeships Work and Small Business Summer and noted their alignment with the Government's efforts to increase SME engagement with apprenticeships via the increased grant for non-levy payers and the Youth Guarantee incentives. She also filmed a video endorsement of our campaigns.
She highlighted the Government's efforts to attract a diverse range of young people into apprenticeships via the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, which sits alongside the Small Business Summer resources delivered in schools and colleges. The importance of locally delivered, nationally co-ordinated apprenticeship brokerage was emphasised, including in parts of the country beyond the initial Mayoral Strategic Authority pilot areas, as called for by our recent open letter. We discussed opportunities arising from the Milburn Review, including the importance of drawing on historical policy lessons, a key message of Edge's Learning from the Past series.
We are very pleased to be working with Amazing Apprenticeships on Small Business Summer and look forward to continuing to work constructively with Government to break down the barriers that are holding SMEs back from engaging with the apprenticeship system.