Katherine Higgins, Blackpool and The Fylde College
There have been changes already, which have been received really positively, with the growth and skills levy having that air of flexibility.
That is what the government is pushing and talking about so it can be utilised.
Initially it was said 50 per cent of the apprenticeship levy was to be used on courses that weren’t apprenticeships.
It’s those short, sharp, impactful commercial programmes that businesses are crying out for, and we’ve had a positive
response. We have courses that we think will fit the bill and we are excited to roll that out.
Where I think there is a slight frustration is that it was intimated at 50 per cent. It’s then been suggested it’s 10 or five per cent initially. We haven’t any clarity.
Skills providers need to collaborate to work together to communicate the changes succinctly through councils, through devolution, through working together.
There have been changes already, which have
been received really positively, with the growth and skills levy having that air of flexibility
Claire Shore, Blackburn College
Apprenticeships have their place but we need to look at what the key priority sectors of Lancashire need. We’ve got to quickly get into this conversation about what Lancashire needs for growth.
We’re really engaging with businesses about the short, medium and long-term plans and looking at where different parts of our skills offer fit and match with different parts of those businesses’ skills needs.
In spite of what some of the qualifications we work with would try to lead us down, it is never a one size fits all, not even in the same discipline.
We’re trying to address that by listening and then acting, trying to work as much as we can in partnership with businesses.
That’s probably what everybody is looking to do, trying to find what we’ve got in that skills system, what will meet that need and to work with them in a niche way to customise it.
Tim Cutler, North Lancs Training Group
We are unique in Lancashire across the north, in the sense of having networks that are collaborative and when I say ‘partnerships’ I mean really strong partnerships.
And that’s comparable to Greater Manchester, to Yorkshire. We’re in a really good position to be agile.
The Northern Skills Network, representing more than 300 providers, is a voice to listen to, and we’ve got people travelling up from Whitehall, and they are listening to us. We believe we can influence. All the discussions about work-ready skills, level four, level five through the IOT, level six and level seven, it all links together.
The colleges do a great job of looking at that work ready programme, that level two, level three, giving them that inspiration. We can’t do that without the employers.
Employers come in, they get involved in curriculum development and they also get involved in masterclasses and they’re inspiring. A massive part of the role for education providers now is educating employers, and I think we’ve come a long way but we’ve still a long way to go.
Simon Price, Napthens
Ten years ago, the legal profession changed the way it recruited solicitors. There was only one route when I qualified as a solicitor 30 years ago. You went to university, did a degree, then did a postgraduate degree, then you did two years of a training contract.
The regulatory body reviewed that and said that it didn’t allow people to come in from different backgrounds, everyone looked the same. A huge review was carried out in the profession and it really embraced apprenticeships.
However, it has been a hard sell and we’ve just, as a profession, got to a stage where there has been a tipping point and apprentices are now part of the recruitment process.
As a firm we have apprentices. What we would say about those apprentices, who are aged 18, 19, is that they like going to university but we tell them they will still get a degree. The challenge as a profession is there’s a gluttony of graduates.
40 SKILLS
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