EngineeringUK Responds to Apprenticeships Reforms Announcement

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is promising to create up to 20,000 more apprenticeships with a series of reforms including fully funding training for young people and cutting red tape for small businesses. Following the announcement, Beatrice Barleon, head of Policy & Public Affairs at EngineeringUK, said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to offer more support for apprenticeships, particularly recognizing the need to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with taking on more apprentices. We are particularly pleased to see the focus for the support is on young people aged 21 or under. Refocusing some of the apprenticeship budget money for young people is something we have called for in our recent “Fit for the Future” report with Lord Willetts and Lord Knight.” Barleon indicates that more needs to be done for the success of the apprenticeship system and encourages the government to consider the recommendations put to them as how to better support SMEs in the apprenticeship process. Barlon continues that there is a mismatch between “levy intake” and the apprenticeship budget and would like to see more transparency in how that money is being spent.