Issue - meetings

The committee is provided with a report which provides an update on the progress on apprenticeships within the council’s workforce since the implementation of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017, and to outline future plans to ensure the levy is maximised to support the development of our workforce.

The Wiltshire Council Staffing Policy Committee was provided with this update on 10^th May 2018.

Members are asked to considered the update and provide questions and comments.

A report was presented which outlined the progress on apprenticeships within the council’s workforce since the implementation of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017, and to outline future plans to ensure the levy was maximised to support the development of our workforce.

Points made included:

In October 2013, the government announced a number of reforms to the national apprenticeship programme as a way of introducing more rigorous standards, being more responsive to the needs of employers and to meet the commitment of having 3 million apprenticeships in place by 2020. At the heart of these reforms was the aim to increase both the quantity and quality of apprenticeships.

The two elements of the above reforms which would have the most impact for Wiltshire Council was the levy, and the proposed public sector target.

The apprenticeship levy was charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s pay bill and was collected monthly by the HMRC through PAYE deductions, and was therefore another tax on employment costs. For the council’s workforce the contribution was £470k in the first year and the total amount that the council, including maintained and VC schools, would pay into the levy during any one year roughly equated to £1m.

The public sector target was for public sector bodies with more than 250 employees in England to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their staff as apprentices from 2017-2021. This meant that the council needed to have approximately 106 apprentices in the workforce each year until 2021, and for schools this was approximately 150 apprentices.

That plans were being developed to further increase apprenticeships and sustain the progress.

That Initiatives were being progressed to help to raise the profile of the council with Care Leavers/LAC as an employer, as well as providing them with valuable employability skills and experience and pathways to apprenticeships with the aim of encouraging these young people to apply for and secure apprenticeships with the Council, and with other employers across Wiltshire.

Resolved

1)    That the Children’s Select Committee noted the report.

2)    To congratulate the work behind the progression towards the excellent number of apprentices working for Wiltshire Council