Apprenticeships plunge as levy pot swells says Make UK

Speaking during this year’s National Apprenticeship Week, the organisation pointed out that the period coincided with the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.

Make UK executive director, former Tory minister Robert Halfon criticised central government for a lack of targeted investment.

“Manufacturing and engineering apprenticeships are in steep decline, yet billions from the Growth and Skills Levy and Immigration Skills Charge are not being used by the Government where they’re needed most – risking valuable training being cut back,” he charged.

Instead, the association called on the Government to adopt its concept of a Skills Investment Pledge to counter the fall in apprenticeship starts and rise in the number of NEETs or young adults not in education, employment or training.

Despite these numbers, pointed out Make UK, there remains some 50,000 vacancies in the sector, owing to skills shortages and lack of training. This in turn impacted industrial growth and productivity it said.

While employer contributions in the form of the Growth and Skills Levy and the Immigration Skills Charge are said to have raised more than £1 billion, businesses assert that a sizeable proportion of the money is not being spent on the training needed.

Said Halfon: “Ringfencing these funds through a Skills Investment Pledge could instead unlock hundreds of thousands of new apprenticeships, plug skills gaps, and deliver at the very least a £4.4 billion boost to the economy.”

Make UK argued that earmarking levy funds for would reallocate the equivalent of 0.1% of GDP towards workforce development and training by 2029-30. This would be equal to a near 70% increase on current funding for apprenticeships, comparable to 234,000 additional starts a year, it said.

“The time to act is now - our young people and our sector cannot wait,” said Halfon.