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Views sought on apprenticeships

11 Jan 2012

The views of organisations and individuals in the building services engineering sector are being sought to help inform a review of apprenticeships by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.

SummitSkills, the sector skills council for building services engineering, plans to submit evidence to the inquiry on behalf of the sector and is encouraging those with opinions to participate in the consultation.

The review will be addressing the following issues:
• How successful has the National Apprenticeship Service been since it was created in April 2009? Has it helped bridge the gap between the two funding Departments? (BIS and Department for Education)
• Is the extra funding promised by the Coalition Government necessary for apprenticeships? How can this funding best be spent?
• Are apprenticeships of a high enough quality to benefit apprentices and their employers? Should there be more Level 3 apprenticeships?
• Apprenticeship bonuses – how should they function? Will they encourage the involvement of more small and medium sized businesses to take on apprentices? If not what will?
• Is the current funding arrangement for training of apprentices of 100% for 16-18 year olds and 50% for 19-24 year olds appropriate?
 

Lindsay Gillespie, executive director of SummitSkills, said: “Now is the time to have your say and influence future decision-making about apprenticeships in the UK. The experience of employers and organisations working in the BSE sector will be invaluable in this review, providing insights into how well current apprenticeships meet the needs of the marketplace or how things need to change in order to do this more effectively.”

Building services engineering sector employers and organisations who would like to make comments about apprenticeships should email them to louise.brinklow@summitskills.org.uk as soon as possible and no later than 20th January.