Tuesday 16th November 2010, Royal Society - Central London, 08:30 - 15:55
Apprenticeships: Rebuilding the Economy with the Workforce of Tomorrow
Overview
The coalition government has re-asserted it's support for the creation of apprenticeships, internships, work pairings, and college and workplace training programmes, all with the intention of getting Britain working. This has been put into motion with the announcement that the coalition government will be redirecting £150 million of additional funding to create more than 50, 000 apprenticeships for SME's.
Apprenticeships are highly valuable to organisations, employers, individuals and the economy. Businesses across the country are realising the numerous benefits of apprenticeships; they create a highly skilled workforce, increase productivity and boost staff retention. In a time of increasing financial constraint, apprenticeships will play a central role in reducing the structural deficit and ensuring future economic growth across our country.
The value and benefits of apprenticeships are obvious; 83 per cent of employers who employ apprentices rely on their apprenticeship programmes to provide the skilled workers that they need for the future; one in five employers are hiring more apprentices to help them through the current economic climate; and the number of completed apprenticeships has risen from 39,000 in 2001/02 to 113,000 in 2007/08, with 64 per cent of apprenticeships completed.
The previous government invested significant amounts of money in apprenticeships, with funding of £1 billion for over 400, 000 apprenticeship places across England by 2010/11.
The downturn has provided the country with an opportunity to redefine its economic and industrial future. Apprenticeships will form an integral part of this, and it is vital therefore that the workforces of tomorrow are given the skills for this new, economic and industrial age.
Agenda
This forum will provide stakeholders with a timely opportunity to learn about the government’s new plans for apprenticeships. It will also provide a platform for in depth analysis of future policy developments in this crucial area.
| 08:30 |
Registration and Coffee |
| 09:15 |
Chair’s Welcome Address Linda Miller, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies (CONFIRMED) |
| 09:25 |
Building Skills for the Future
- What is the future of apprenticeships?
- Redirecting £150 million of additional funding to create 50, 000 additional apprenticeships
- Harnessing the power of apprenticeships to drive economic growth
- The scale of the challenge
Lord Cotter, former Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Skills (CONFIRMED)
|
| 09:45 |
Opening Doors to a Better Future: The Role of the National Apprenticeships Service
- Increasing the number of apprenticeship opportunities and providing a dedicated, responsive services for employers and learners
- Creating a more efficient and simple apprenticeship recruitment service via an online web-based matching service
- The priorities for 2010 – 11:
- Young people:
- Ensuring that at least 1 in 5 are undertaking an apprenticeship by 2020
- Increasing the number of employers engaged in apprenticeship programmes, especially in the public sector
- Addressing stereotyping and under-representation across all equality strands – Gender, race and disability
- Adults:
- Expanding apprenticeships from 19-24 to include 19-30 year olds
- Ensuring more level 4 apprenticeships are available in all areas
Karen Woodward, Regional Apprenticeship Director, East Midlands, National Apprenticeships Service (NAS) (CONFIRMED)
|
| 10:05 |
Making Partnerships between Education and Employers Work
- Understanding the importance of increased partnership working with employer-led bodies to identify skills growth areas
- Prioritising areas of skills shortage and meeting gaps in the future
- Developing strategies to work with local employers to deliver training through education-business partnerships – how can you secure buy in?
- Sustaining long term effective and mutually beneficial partnerships
- Engaging department heads and managers to use apprentices and placements wherever possible
Bridget Herniman, Project Manager Apprenticeships Standards & Qualifications Directorate, Skills for Health (CONFIRMED) |
| 10:25 |
Questions and Answers Session |
| 10:40 |
Coffee and Networking |
| 11:05 |
Growing Our Own – Apprenticeships at Oxfordshire County Council Rose Rolle-Rowan, Workforce Initiatives Manager, Oxfordshire County Council (CONFIRMED) |
| 11:25 |
Reforming Skills Funding: Helping Business Grow
- Tackling youth unemployment and giving people work based technical skills, while increasing focus on extra support for adult and level 3 apprenticeships
- Reforming funding to deliver economically valuable skills and ensure there is a funding mechanism which supports employer choice
- Using public funding to reconnect the unemployed with work based opportunities and ensuring employees have the technical skills to have chance to advance into higher learning
- The importance of investing in STEM skills to boost growth in strategic sectors and help redefine the country’s industrial landscape
- Ways forward – Cutting bureaucratic processes, changing funding rules and certification procedures
Simon Nathan, Senior Policy Advisor, Education and Skills, CBI (CONFIRMED)
|
| 11:45 |
Putting Quality, Transferability and Progression at the Heart of Apprenticeships
- The importance of quality assured apprenticeships
- Engaging business in the design and delivery of qualifications
- Addressing the skills gap and working in partnership to build work based learning programmes to develop employability and skills
- What is the future of the apprenticeship?
Sacha Corcoran, Deputy Director for Learners, Partnerships & Innovation, Centre for Business Arts & Technology, City and Islington College (CONFIRMED)
|
| 12:05 |
Questions and Answers Session |
| 12:30 |
Lunch and Networking |
| 13:30 |
The Importance of STEM Skills in the Future Economy
- Ensuring all young people, regardless of background, are actively encouraged to understand the importance of Science, Technology,
- Engineering and Maths, and the career opportunities STEM subjects can lead to
- Raising awareness and understanding in schools of STEM enhancement and enrichment opportunities available to them
- The STEM ambassadors programme – 18, 000 + volunteers who support and promote STEM subjects to young learners
- After School Science and Engineering Clubs (ASSEC) – Inspiring key stage 3 students to learn and enjoy engineering and science
- How important are STEM subjects in securing future prosperity?
- How can you get involved?
Yvonne Baker, Chief Executive, Myscience (CONFIRMED)
|
| 13:50 |
Questions and Answers Session |
| 14:00 |
Breaking Gender Segregation in Apprenticeships
- What are the barriers preventing young people moving into strongly segregated sectors?
- What actions are being taken by the YPLA and Skills Funding Agency to address gender segregation?
- Encouraging more diverse groups of young people to consider apprenticeships in these sectors – How can it be done?
- Findings and recommendations of the research
Linda Miller, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies (CONFIRMED)
|
| 14:20 |
Questions and Answers Session |
| 14:30 |
Coffee and Networking |
| 14:55 |
Reforming Apprenticeships to Stimulate Employer Demand
- The characteristics of employer demand for apprenticeships
- Freeing up apprenticeship design to align better with employer demand – the Apprenticeship Reform Programme
- Areas for further consideration
Judith Compton, Deputy Director/Head of 14-19 Programmes, UKCES (CONFIRMED)
|
| 15:15 |
Case Study: The London Borough of Bexley’s Apprenticeship Programme
- What were the problems: An ageing workforce; a responsibility as an employer to work in partnership to increase local skill and employability levels
- A commitment to the London Taskforce’s target of delivering a target of 2,000 apprenticeships in local government in London by 2011 – Progress so far
- Using workbased learning as a cost-effective way of managing a business
- Involving a local training provider to develop the qualification side of the apprenticeship
- Outcomes and impact:
- A useful recruitment tool helping to attract young people into the council
- Raising the local profile of the council as a sought after employer
- Lessons to be learnt:
- Attract young local employees into the council workforce
- Grow our own talent to feed skills shortage areas as part of our succession planning
- Offer managers a cost-effective alternative to temporary and agency staff
- Contribute towards local area agreement (LAA) targets to reduce numbers of young people currently not in employment, education or training (NEET)
- Progress and next steps
Cheryl Jones, Apprenticeship Consultant, London Borough of Bexley (CONFIRMED) |
| 15:35 |
Questions and Answers Session |
| 15:55 |
Chair's Summary and Close |
*Programme subject to change at any notice
Audience
Delegates will be drawn from all sectors of the education and children services community, including schools, colleges, connexions, jobcentre plus, local education authorities, NEET strategy teams, children in care teams, 14-19 teams, social inclusion officers, employment engagement teams, training and apprenticeship teams, youth offending teams, housing service providers, central government departments & bodies, academia, health and social care, welfare groups and the voluntary sector.
