Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeship Manifesto
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The Naonal Hairdressers’ Federaon One Abbey Court Fraser Road Priory Business Park Bedford, MK44 3WH t: 0845 345 6500 e: [email protected] www.nhf.info The Future of Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenceships A Manifesto for Change Introducon The government has commied itself, through last year’s Richard Review and its response published in March 2013, to the development of new-look, employer-led apprenceships that will put business owners at the heart of designing and delivering vocaonal, work-based training. Hairdressing and barbering has long had an exemplary record in its commitment to vocaonal training and apprenceships but, like the government, the Naonal Hairdressers’ Federaon believes the apprenceship system as it is currently structured and delivered is flawed and ripe for change and improvement. The NHF is the UK’s biggest naonal trade associaon for the 35,000 salon owners within the hair and beauty industry, which generates turnover of more than £6bn per year and employs almost 250,000 people. NHF’s members include micro businesses, oſten family-owned salons, through to large naonal chains. To this end, and building on feedback and input from its hairdressing salon membership up and down the country, the NHF has developed a “manifesto” for change, seng out a number of key priories and proposed acons to feed into this process of improvement and transion. Our aim is to use this manifesto as a vehicle – a springboard – to drive change and improvement within hairdressing apprenceships. We recognise everyone associated with training in our industry – the government, Habia, training providers and colleges, salons, apprences themselves – ulmately wants the same thing: excellence. The aim of this manifesto therefore is to use this common ground to work with our industry and our polical leaders to crystallise a blueprint for reform and improvement that will, in turn, lead to the development of more employer-focused, appropriate and relevant qualificaons. Hairdressing and barbering connues to be ones of the most robust, reliable success stories on the high street but, in a deeply challenging economic climate and with retailers facing intense pressure from the internet and elsewhere, our industry needs to be ensuring future generaons are coming through with the right skills, educaon, atudes and professionalism. Moreover, as an industry historically aracve to young people with entrepreneurial spirit, but against a backdrop of record youth unemployment, all of us have a deep responsibility to ensure we are geng the training of future generaons right. The task ahead will not be easy, but the opportunity must not be lost if we are to make apprenceships, and the qualificaons within them, more appropriate to the needs of both salon owners and young people today – the salon owners of the future. John Armstrong Hilary Hall NHF Educaon Commiee Chair CEO/Secretary-General March 2013
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Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeship Manifesto
Transcript of Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeship Manifesto
The National Hairdressers’ FederationOne Abbey CourtFraser RoadPriory Business ParkBedford, MK44 3WH
t: 0845 345 6500 e: [email protected]
www.nhf.info
The Future of Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeships A Manifesto for Change
IntroductionThe government has committed itself, through last year’s Richard Review and its response published in March 2013, to the development of new-look, employer-led apprenticeships that will put business owners at the heart of designing and delivering vocational, work-based training.
Hairdressing and barbering has long had an exemplary record in its commitment to vocational training and apprenticeships but, like the government, the National Hairdressers’ Federation believes the apprenticeship system as it is currently structured and delivered is flawed and ripe for change and improvement.
The NHF is the UK’s biggest national trade association for the 35,000 salon owners within the hair and beauty industry, which generates turnover of more than £6bn per year and employs almost 250,000 people. NHF’s members include micro businesses, often family-owned salons, through to large national chains.
To this end, and building on feedback and input from its hairdressing salon membership up and down the country, the NHF has developed a “manifesto” for change, setting out a number of key priorities and proposed actions to feed into this process of improvement and transition.
Our aim is to use this manifesto as a vehicle – a springboard – to drive change and improvement within hairdressing apprenticeships. We recognise everyone associated with training in our industry – the government, Habia, training providers and colleges, salons, apprentices themselves – ultimately wants the same thing: excellence.
The aim of this manifesto therefore is to use this common ground to work with our industry and our political leaders to crystallise a blueprint for reform and improvement that will, in turn, lead to the development of more employer-focused, appropriate and relevant qualifications.
Hairdressing and barbering continues to be ones of the most robust, reliable success stories on the high street but, in a deeply challenging economic climate and with retailers facing intense pressure from the internet and elsewhere, our industry needs to be ensuring future generations are coming through with the right skills, education, attitudes and professionalism.
Moreover, as an industry historically attractive to young people with entrepreneurial spirit, but against a backdrop of record youth unemployment, all of us have a deep responsibility to ensure we are getting the training of future generations right. The task ahead will not be easy, but the opportunity must not be lost if we are to make apprenticeships, and the qualifications within them, more appropriate to the needs of both salon owners and young people today – the salon owners of the future.
John Armstrong Hilary Hall NHF Education Committee Chair CEO/Secretary-General
March 2013
The National Hairdressers’ FederationOne Abbey CourtFraser RoadPriory Business ParkBedford, MK44 3WH
t: 0845 345 6500 e: [email protected]
www.nhf.info
Manifesto pledges
Pledge One: To improve the relevance and quality of publicly-funded apprenticeship programmes in hairdressing and barbering.
Proposed activities:
• To establish an expert reference group of employers and external stakeholders to review the current “fitness-for-purpose” of existing apprenticeship frameworks.
• To consider and potentially table new frameworks that better meet the skills needs of NHF members. This will include a review of mandatory units, coverage of the full range of skills employers need, minimum sector apprenticeship durations, assessment methods and the effectiveness of non-employed status FE programmes. The ultimate aim will be to establish apprenticeship frameworks that can be endorsed by the NHF and the employers it represents.
• To identify and better understand how current delivery of apprenticeships in hairdressing and barbering compares with those in other vocational areas in terms of quality and achievement rates and, in the process, devise an improvement strategy for the delivery of apprenticeships within our sector.
• To raise awareness of the professional nature of hairdressing and barbering among colleges and independent training providers to, first, improve the quality and calibre of learners attracted to the sector as a career choice and, second, better ensure that the number of funded learner places is aligned to sector employment demand.
Key audience and influencers:
• Habia/SkillsActive, • The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) • The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) • FE colleges and independent training providers • Ofsted
Pledge Two: To raise the awareness of NHF members as to the extent to which publicly-funded apprenticeship provision can provide skills solutions for their employees.
Proposed activities:
• To orchestrate an awareness-raising campaign among NHF members to provide clarity as to the skills that they may reasonably expect staff undertaking a Level 2 or Level 3 apprenticeship to achieve and, equally, those skills that may need to be developed through ongoing professional development after an apprenticeship has been completed.
The National Hairdressers’ FederationOne Abbey CourtFraser RoadPriory Business ParkBedford, MK44 3WH
t: 0845 345 6500 e: [email protected]
www.nhf.info
• As part of this campaign, to identify and disseminate best practice case studies from NHF members who have notably improved productivity and achieved staffing excellence through the adoption of apprentices.
Key audience and influencers:
• NHF members
Pledge Three: To identify and champion continuing professional development “pathways” for sector staff once they have completed a publicly-funded apprenticeship so as to enable them to become fully competent, experienced and economically viable stylists for their employers.
Proposed activities:
• To work with the Hairdressing Council to evolve and rekindle the current Statutory Register for Hairdressers, positioning this so that registration and ongoing quality assurance is an indication of a stylist’s competency at a level of sector recognised proficiency. This might ultimately progress to create a professional institute for stylists and practitioners.
• To pursue alternative areas of public funding to support further post-apprenticeship sector skills professionalisation such as, for example, the UKCES Employer Ownership of Skills Pilots.
Key audiences and influencers:
• Habia/SkillsActive • The Hairdressing Council • UK Commission for Employment & Skills (UKCES)
Pledge Four: To identify, and seek to address, the design features of apprenticeships that may discourage NHF members from adopting them as a form of staff development.
Proposed activities:
• To formulate a campaign group with trade associations that represent sectors similar in characteristics to that of the NHF membership (ie sectors dominated by predominantly smaller independent, yet highly skilled, sole traders and SME owner managers) that face similar challenges when employing apprentices.
• Through this campaign group, to lobby government and those agencies responsible for apprenticeship design to address some of the key inhibitors to employer participation, such as (a) employment law complexities and (b) national minimum wage considerations.
Key Audiences & Influencers:
• The Low Pay Commission • The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) • The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS)
The National Hairdressers’ FederationOne Abbey CourtFraser RoadPriory Business ParkBedford, MK44 3WH
t: 0845 345 6500 e: [email protected]
www.nhf.info
Next steps and timeline
The underlying aim of The Future of Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeships – a Manifesto for Change is to create a new platform for skills and professionalisation within the hairdressing and barbering profession. We would like to see this happen by the end of 2013. To this end we propose the following timeframe:
• April 2013: publication of manifesto The Future of Hairdressing and Barbering Apprenticeships – a Manifesto for Change
• By May 25: the NHF to submit evidence to government consultation on its proposals in response to the Richard Review
• July 2013: establishment of an “expert reference group” that will include salon owner members, awarding bodies and college/training provider representatives.
• August 2013-December 2013: the NHF to carry out an in-depth review of the current “fitness-for-purpose” of existing apprenticeship frameworks
• September 2013: awareness-raising campaign among NHF members
• December 2013: expert reference group to report, including tabling of new frameworks that better meet the skills needs of NHF members.
Conclusion:
The Richard Review, and the government’s clear commitment to improving the delivery of apprenticeships and vocational education in the UK, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that our industry cannot afford to pass up.
Effecting change is never easy and, for something as important as this, nor should it be rushed. But we believe this manifesto sets out a valuable foundation – a framework and a blueprint – not just for change but for wholesale transformation in how apprenticeships and vocational training are structured and delivered within hairdressing and barbering.
It is imperative within this process that the voice of salon owners is heard, and heard loudly. We urge NHF members to join with us and support us in this process.
