Date www.local.gov.uk22nd July 2011 www.local.gov.uk

Lets Play who Wants to create three

million new apprenticeships…

Nigel Carruthers

LGA

Employment Law Training, 27th February 2018

In the beginning..

..there was a manifesto

commitment to create 3 million

new apprenticeship starts..

..and the number of

apprenticeship starts

fell by 30%

In the beginning in local government we

said the policy was a bit of a….

https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/employment-and-skills/work-local

#LGworkforce

What is the deadline for the public Sector

apprenticeship target reporting?

Apr 2018 Sep 2018

Dec 2018 Mar 2019

Reporting Progress & Public Sector Targets

‘Having regard’ to the target

Public sector bodies with 250 or more staff in

England have a target to employ an average of at

least 2.3% of their staff as new apprentice starts

over the period of 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021

The Government considers the duty to ‘have

regard’ to the target to mean that, in making

workforce planning decisions, public bodies should

actively consider apprenticeships, either for new

recruits or as part of career development for

existing staff.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pub

lic-sector-apprenticeship-target

Public Sector Targets: Reporting

“Apprenticeship Activity Return”

To explain how they have sought to have regard to the

target and any factors they feel have hindered their efforts

to meet the target.

We are required to provide an annual return of two parts,

detailing progress towards the target, to DfE

Part 1 – Data Return

Part 2 – Apprenticeship Activity Return

Reporting the detail: Apprenticeship Activity Return

PART 1

1. Figure A: The number of employees whose

employment in England by the body began in the

reporting period in question.

2. Figure B: The number of apprentices who began to

work for the body in that period and whose

apprenticeship agreements also began in that period.

This includes employees who were already working for

the body before beginning their apprenticeship, as well

as new apprentice hires.

3. Figure C: the number of employees employed in

England that the body has at the end of that period.

4. Figure D: the number of apprentices who work for the

body at the end of that period.

PART 2

Action that the body has taken to meet their

apprenticeship target (i.e. how it has ‘had regard’);

If their target has not been met then specific

further evidence may be required. This may

include an explanation of why the target was not

met, actions the body has taken to overcome the

challenges it has faced and/or mitigating factors

which demonstrate the body’s commitment to

apprenticeships;

Information about action the body proposes to take

to meet their future apprenticeship targets; and

If the body considers that a future target is not

likely to be met, an explanation of why that is so.

Reporting timescales: Apprenticeship Activity Return

The reporting periods are as follows:

1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019

1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020

1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021

The deadlines for these returns:

30 September 2018

30 September 2019

30 September 2020

30 September 2021

What is the LG apprenticeship levy PA?

£67m

£207m

£107m

£307m

£11.1£15.6 £17.4

£19.1£22.1 £22.3

£30.5 £31.0

£36.0Apprenticeship Levy 0.5% Payroll (in £m)

LG by region

Progress on Apprenticeship Levy ROI

• The LGA surveyed the 151 largest local authorities in

England (county councils and unitaries) They account for

around 85% of the total local government levy spend

• What did we find?

Progress on Apprenticeship Levy ROI

Leadership buy-in – 91%

Corporate Plans/policy – 73%

Working in Partnership – 60%

Procurement plans in place – 69%

Workforce Plans – 28%

What % of the LG levy spend applies to

schools?

28% 38%

48% 58%

Schools & Apprenticeships

November 2016 there were 1.4 million people (headcount)

working in state-funded schools in England

11,569

294

8,922

10,371

1,099

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000

Teachers

Occasional Teachers

Teaching Assistants

School Support Staff

3rd Party Support Staff

Apprenticeship Target PA?

• Schools are proving to be a significant

challenge for many LAs because of:

• Standards & Pathways – standards for

teachers, teaching Assistants, early years

and school business managers are not yet

available.

• Demand & Scale – Interest in using the

levy varies. Many schools have never

delivered apprenticeships before so this is

new territory for them.

• Money & Capacity – many schools do not

have the resources to pay the salaries of

apprentices, even if they want to

36,000 26,000

16,000 6,000

How many apprentices do you LG will

employ in 2020?

Sharing Practice

• On partnership working…

– Hertfordshire has created the Hertfordshire Apprenticeship

Alliance bringing together all public and voluntary sector

organisations and training providers together in partnership.

– Kingston and Sutton share an Apprenticeship Levy Project

Manager and are developing a joint workforce development

strategy.

– Suffolk has shared a cohort of Town Planning Apprentices

(technician level) across public sector organisations in the county

in response to a significant skills shortage. They hope to replicate

this with the degree level town planning apprenticeship once

approved.

• On procurement…

– Greater Manchester CA has developed a DPS for Apprenticeship

Procurement across all 10 LAs and with other public sector

partners. Due to go live in Jan 2018

• On schools…

– Brighton ran an Apprenticeship Fair for schools and early years to promote

awareness, while Hampshire held a programme of roadshows and

headteacher forums to engage schools

– Rochdale has met 40 of its maintained schools and completed action plans

with them on their Levy spend. Schools now account for 30% of Rochdale’s

apprenticeship starts.

• On Innovation…

– Birmingham has a traineeship programme for care leavers linked into its

apprenticeship programme and are looking to extend this pathway to degree

level

– Camden has piloted part-time flexible apprenticeships to help parents return

to workplace

– Devon is in the process of appointing a new care-experienced ‘Young

People’s Employability Coordinator’ to develop an apprenticeships offer for

care leavers

– Southwark has developed the Southwark Apprenticeship Standard for quality

local apprenticeships in the borough – 35 registered supporters including

Barclays and TfL

What % of your apprenticeship levy can

you transfer in 2018?

10% 20%

30% 40%

What we know so far

• From April 2018, you will be able to transfer up to 10% of your

apprenticeship funds to other employers to support apprenticeships

in their business.

• You can transfer funds to any employer, including smaller employers

in your supply chain and ATAs.

• Levy-paying employers who wish to transfer funds will have to agree

the apprenticeships they are funding with the employer receiving

funds.

• Employers receiving transferred funds will only be able to use them

to pay for training and assessment for apprenticeship standards.

• Employers will not be able to use transferred funds to pay for training

for apprenticeship frameworks.

• The 10% yearly maximum will be calculated for the total value of

funds credited to your apprenticeship service account in the previous

financial year.

What we know so far

• Before you can make a transfer, you will need to:

– find an employer to transfer funds to.

– Ensure that has registered an account on the apprenticeship

service

– agree the details of the transfer with the employer you are

sending funds to, including the cost and duration of the

apprenticeship and the apprenticeship standard

– understand how much you’re going to transfer - which needs

to cover the duration of the apprenticeship (ESFA will provide an

estimating tool to help you to do this)

– know that you will be funding the total cost of their

apprenticeship

– be aware that payments will be debited monthly from your

account to cover the cost, alongside your own apprenticeships.

What we know so far

• Once you have set up the transfer with a receiving employer, they

will need to agree the cost and apprentice details with the training

provider on the apprenticeship service.

• You will then be able to approve the final cost before any payments

are made.

• Payments will be made on a monthly basis once information is

submitted by the training provider.

• Employers will continue to transfer funds to the receiving employer

monthly until the apprentice completes, or until the receiving

employer stops the transfer (e.g. if the apprentice stops their

apprenticeship).

What % of councils have completed an

improvement self-assessment?

32% 41%

51% 61%

Maturity Model

Leadership and Culture

Procurement

Workforce Development

Planning, Delivery Structures and Processes

Engagement

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Sector Progress against the Apprenticeship Maturity Model2017-18

Mature Maturing Developing Early

Burning issues for Councils…

• 20% Off-the-Job Training

• Quality and availability of Training Providers

• Number of relevant standards available

• End Point Assessment

• Middle Manager Buy-in

• Schools

LGA Support Offer 2018

• Network Support - KHUB on-line community &

regional / Sub regions

• Guidance and sharing best practice

- Webinars & Workshops

- Six-weekly newsletter launched

- Best practice guide in development

• Support Funding for standards development

• Improvement Offer for Individual councils

Direct Improvement offer for those most in need….

Supporting LGA vision - Identifying issues & quantifying impact to support

lobbying

Develop shared understanding of

apprenticeships and the Levy

Workforce planning& apprenticeship

implementation

practical tools &

advice

Levy management advice and longer term planning -apprenticeship system reconciliation

Specialist expertise management & compliance & levy lifecycle

Apprenticeship process

design & financial modelling

Extra capacity; in

the team, for the team-resource when needed

Support service for

schools – advisory service & hands on help

Apprenticeship

strategy & diagnostics linked

to the Maturity Model

Identifying priorities mapping

apprenticeships to roles

Acceleratingprogress support to take the first step take the next step

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