The Government has said it will 'refresh' its apprenticeship strategy after the special taskforce set up to address the skills gap in transport failed to meet core targets.
A report from the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce's (STAT) confirms that it failed to meet both an initial and a revised target for apprenticeship starts in road and rail.
It was set the initial target of reaching 30,000 apprenticeship starts in road and rail client bodies by 2020.
When it became clear it had no chance of meeting this, it was set the revised target of 15,200 apprentices, which it also failed to reach with only 11,254 starts in the last four years.
In terms of diversity, STAT was set the target of 20% of technical and engineering starts taken by women but has only reached 12%. The number of apprenticeship starts for women came down last year from 15% in 2018/2019 but never went as high as 16% over the last four years.
BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) representation is one area where STAT has seen some success. It was set the target of a 20% increase in the number of BAME candidates undertaking apprenticeships by 2020.
BAME representation rose to 21%, up from 14% in the first year of STAT's progress. However, it slightly decreased from 22% in 2018/2019 and despite continued growth in degree-level apprenticeships, which now account for 11% of starts in 2019/20 up from 3.5% in 2016/17, those from a BAME background made up only 13% of these.
Oddly, the STAT board itself has a scarcity of women and people of colour.
The defeat comes on top of criticisms of the Apprenticeship Levy, which has been roundly dismissed as a failure, and has left the Government working on a 'refreshed strategy'.
The STAT report also notes difficulties around the beleaguered Apprenticeship Levy.
It states: 'STAT continues to engage with the Department for Education (DfE) on the design of the apprenticeship levy. There are a number of stakeholders in the transport sector that have requested more flexibility in how the levy funding can be spent.
'In particular, they have requested the opportunity to use levy funding for pre-apprenticeship training which is seen as increasingly important in the wake of COVID-19.
'STAT has also been engaging with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) on concerns around apprenticeship policy impacting the sector, specifically on the provision of End Point Assessments (EPA), funding cap decisions for some apprenticeship standards, and the provision of degree apprenticeships.
'The STAT membership looks forward to continuing work with DfE and IfATE to address some of the emerging challenges in delivering high quality apprenticeships in the sector.
Internally within the organisations of DfT, Highways England, HS2, Network Rail and TfL, STAT have reported 1,207 starts in 2019/20, compared to 1,179 in 2018/19, representing an increase.
The largest volume of starts in the last few years has come via the rail sector.
Next steps
The Government is now working on a refreshed strategy this autumn to replace the TISS and outline a new set of long-term strategic aims. The new strategy will be based around three key points:
- Continuing to deliver high quality apprenticeships and traineeships across the industry, to ensure that a skilled workforce is in place to deliver an ambitious programme of investment and that it meets future skills needs;
- Continuing to improve the diversity of the workforce to ensure that transport careers are available and accessible to everyone, regardless of their background;
- Supporting those who have become unemployed in areas of the industry most affected by COVID-19 into jobs in growth sectors, ensuring they have access to retraining and upskilling where needed.
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