Participants from thirteen local Public Sector employers met at the Met Office for an update on the Apprenticeship Levy and the introduction of mandatory employment targets which will come into effect in April 2017. Ben Neild’s first presentation set the scene for the morning, proposing that apprenticeships could  help to grow and keep local talent of all levels as “getting talent is getting tough”. The agenda included four informative and inspiring presentations – links below:

• An Exeter and Heart of Devon Economic Update from Ben Neild, University of Exeter
• A detailed briefing on Apprenticeships post 2017 from Richard Daulton, National Apprenticeship Service
• A large Public Sector organisation’s thinking on Apprenticeships post 2017 post 2017 from Ben Neild, University of Exeter
• A private sector case study from Nigel Fenn from South West Water a top 100 Apprenticeship employer

A round table discussion followed around three questions which elicited a great deal of interaction and notes! Here is a brief summary:

Q1 How do you work together and share knowledge and information?

Local Public Sector employers do not work together although there are groups and networks to which they belong. In addition internal collaboration can be a problem.

Q2 What would a Gold Medal Standard look like?

A Gold Medal standard apprenticeship would meet the business need, reduce resistance to cultural change, maximise the levy payment, provide evidence to enable further development, enhance collaboration and provide the apprentice with a quality learning experience with opportunities for employment and progression, whilst receiving a decent wage.

Q3a What are your next steps?

The next steps are for organisations: to understand their business and training needs and what the levy and the targets mean for them; to communicate this to Senior Management and identify dedicated resource and/or apprenticeship champion; and to consider working with other organisations to aggregate demand in order to negotiate with Training Providers and to share apprentices.

Q3b How can the EHOD Employment and Skills Board (ESB) help?

The ESB can help by informing and influencing organisations and by linking organisations either through identifying existing networks or by providing a facility to do so or similar networking events.

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You may also be interested to read:

•  APPRENTICESHIPS CORE BRIEF June 2016
• 44 Frequently Asked Questions about the new Employer Levy Apprenticeship Funding QA external 21-04-16 FINAL (002)
• Guidance for Employers Levy EMPLOYER Guidance 21 april 2016
• National Insurance Employer Contribution removal for Apprentices (April 2016): Employer NIC removal
• Apprenticeship frameworks removed (from December 2016)

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More follow-up information about the event will be shared with participants. Please contact oenone.thomas@exeter.gov.uk or 01392 265344 if you would like more information.