Wake up call on recession-hit apprentices

York, UK - The UK's apprenticeships drive will be severely undermined if the Government does not act to safeguard current apprentices from the impact of recession, process skills leaders were warned at the National Skills Academy Process Industries¹ first national skills conference, held 30 April in York.

Highlighting the plight of trainees at companies now facing closure, George Ritchie, senior vice-president HR & IT at North East utilities and services company Sembcorp, said: "If these young people don't find a placement to continue with their apprenticeships they will be lost to our industry and won¹t come back."

The Sembcrop executive went on to call for new support and measures to simplify access to current funding for apprenticeships to help mitigate the situation. He added that many people who are "putting their heart and soul into this training process" are likely to become disillusioned if the problems are not addressed.

"All the good work that many in this room have actually put in to change the image or generate the interest [in the process sector] as a good place to be trained as an apprentice will be lost ... I am afraid our credibility will not be there when the upturn comes if we don't react to keeping these young people in some way, in some shape or form in training."

Citing his own difficulties in finding placements for 14 young people whose company is closing down, Ritchie concluded: "As a practitioner trying to actually look at increasing apprenticeships, I think we talk a good story, I don¹t think we do very well in carrying out the actions. Let's wake up and start drinking the coffee instead of smelling it."

Ritchie's call for action was directed at a conference panel, which included David Way, deputy chief executive of the Government's new National Apprentice Service (NAS), flanked by senior officials of the NSAPI and Cogent. NAS was officially launched on 27 April with a remit to deliver a significant rise in the number of employers offering apprenticeships.

At the York conference, Way pointed to government efforts to find alternative placements for apprentices though he admitted that the number of placements was likely to drop by around 7% this year due to the economic downturn. Suggesting that industry might provide its own solutions to such issues, he said "let's get beyond the headline rhethoric and say what it is you exactly want."

However, NSAPI chief executive Phil Jones pointed to recent lobbying efforts by the skills academy and Cogent at DIUS (the Department for Universities, Innovation & Skills: "We made a very strong and passionate case about what is currently happening and what could happen over the next couple of months."

NSAPI and Cogent are still battling very strongly on this issue, said Jones, though he added: "the [Government] coffers are empty at the moment and any sort of concept of wage subsidy is off the table to some extent."

In January the Prime Minister announced an additional £140 million to provide an extra 35,000 places this year, while more recently the Government put up £7million to set up 10 new Apprenticeship Training Agencies (ATAs) this year. They are expected to deliver up to 15,000 apprenticeship places per year by 2015. However, some of the £7-million funding might also go to Group Training Associations that provide skills and training for groups of employers.

ATAs are intended to bolster existing arrangements to support apprentices at risk of redundancy and those made redundant. ATAs are companies or partnerships acting as a recruitment agency, hiring out apprentices to 'host' employers and other organisations.

"Apprenticeships have seen a massive expansion under this Government, with nearly a quarter of a million young people and adults starting one this year compared to only 65,000 a decade ago," said Apprenticeships Minister, Lord Young. "In these tougher times it¹s more important than ever that we invest in the skills of our workforce, helping individuals get into and stay on at work as well as helping businesses stay competitive and prepare for the upturn.

Please email your views to: patrick.raleigh@centaur.co.uk