OCTOBER 2024 | VOLUME 62 | ISSUE 8


Apprenticeship reform set to prioritise green skills


The government has announced plans for apprenticeship reform in England, responding to a report from Skills England that highlights the need for more green skills and updated qualifi cations.


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government’s Skills England report puts the ‘green’ economy front and centre, highlighting the urgent need for more workers and the opportunities presented by the path to net zero. “Skills have floundered in the


The government has announced plans to introduce a new growth and skills levy which will replace the existing apprenticeship levy and include new foundation apprenticeships. It is hoped that these new apprenticeships will give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, such as construction and the market for green technologies. The


new levy will also


allow funding for shorter apprenticeships, giving learners and employers greater fl exibility over their training than under the existing system – where apprenticeships must run for at least 12 months. The training eligible for funding under the new levy will develop over time, informed by Skills England’s assessment of priority skills needs. The first report from Skills


England, the government’s new advisory body, has now been published. It provides an initial analysis of the nation’s current working skills, as well as an assessment of future skills needs and gaps.


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UK for some time with a lack of employer investment and, in our sector specifi cally, a reticence to take the step away from fossil fuels. I hope that this report marks the start of a more stable, standardised and focussed approach to meeting the UK’s skill requirements, an exciting chapter in our economic and environmental fortunes.” Mark Krull, director of training


The report has found that


employer investment in training has been in steady decline over the past decade, with training expenditure at its lowest level since records began in 2011, with investment per employee down by 19% in real terms. Employer investment in training lags behind many comparator nations, with UK employers investing half as much per employee in vocational training as the EU average, and fell by 8% between 2017 and 2022. It also highlights that a


skilled workforce is crucial if the country is to meet its net zero and environmental targets and ambitions. Taking heat pump installation as an example, the report says that the number of skilled workers will need to grow signifi cantly to meet the anticipated increase in future demand. The need for a new generation of skilled workers is further emphasised by recent government- commissioned research which


found that among employers surveyed, two-thirds of the heating and cooling installer workforce is aged 45 or over, 95% male and 95% white. Approximately 95% of heating and cooling businesses are sole traders or microbusinesses (businesses with fewer than 10 employees).


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provider Logic4training and LCL Awards, agrees with the assessment that small businesses and the self- employed are crucial to the UK economy and the transition to a low carbon future. “Apart from upskilling


Job opportunities The report also highlights the potential for the net zero transition to create huge numbers of jobs and opportunities across the country. In 2022, the ONS estimated that there were around 640k full-time equivalents (FTE) directly employed in green jobs, 8.4% higher than the estimated 590k in 2021, and 19.9% higher than the 535k estimated in 2020. Overall, growth in green jobs was nearly four times the rate of overall UK employment growth between 2020 and 2022. Commenting on the report, Paul Smith, MD for heat pump manufacturer NIBE, says: “The


themselves, sole traders should have greater encouragement to take on their own apprentices, to improve prosperity and boost skills across the board,” he says. “The proposed direction of


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Apprenticeship Levy reforms look promising. A more flexible approach will hopefully encourage more SMEs to engage with apprenticeships which remain one of the best ways to cost-eff ectively grow a business, while offering apprentices unrivalled on-the- ground experience that just can’t be taught in a classroom. “In the future, I would like to


see every employee and sole trader have access to financial support towards training, independent of the employer they work for.”


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