Memorandum 15
Submission from the Chartered Insurance
Institute
EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES,
SCIENCE AND SKILLS COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO THE DRAFT APPRENTICESHIP
BILL
SUMMARY
The Chartered Insurance Institute
welcomes the focus on Apprenticeships which this bill brings;
We see the benefits of the National
Apprenticeship Servicehowever, ensuring the NAS engages
with stakeholders to create a better Apprenticeship programme
is vital;
Apprenticeship frameworks must be
flexible and responsive to employer need. This is a key component
of a "world class" system;
We welcome the duty on schools to
provide information to pupils on Apprenticeshipshowever
the advice needs to be of high quality. Who will monitor this?
THE CHARTERED
INSURANCE INSTITUTE
1. The CII Group is the world's largest
professional body for insurance and financial services and one
of the UK's largest awarding bodies. We offer qualifications to
those working in insurance and financial services, many of which
are accredited within the national qualification frameworks. Our
qualifications range from Certificate (Level 3) to Advanced Diploma
(Level 6). With over 94,000 members in 150 countries, we are committed
to maintaining the highest standards of technical expertise and
ethical conduct in the profession.
2. The CII has made a commitment to actively
supporting Apprenticeships in the wider financial services sector;
we work closely with Apprenticeship providers and employer to
bring together supply and demand, with the result that the number
of Apprentices in the sector has never been higher.
RESPONSE
3. The CII welcomes the support being provided
to increase the quality and number of Apprenticeships, the promise
of places for those who want one and the additional focus placed
on Apprenticeships to ensure their parity of esteem with other
"traditional" or "academic" qualifications;
the difficult economic times we face may see a reduction in the
number of people able to afford university study; Apprenticeships
should be seen as a valid route for all, not just those with a
more vocational bent.
4. Apprenticeships offer a number of advantages
for employers in all sectors, and financial services in no exception.
They present an excellent opportunity to attract more people into
the sector and provide an entry route for those who might not
normally consider a career in financial services. They also provide
personal and professional development for those already in the
sector, thanks in no small part to the awarding of professional
qualifications. However there are still many employers within
our sector who have yet to acknowledge the benefits of employing
an Apprentice, or who do not fully understand the benefits of
the scheme.
5. On the job training also plays a fundamental
role in an individual's development, giving them real-life experience
and confidence to accompany any technical qualifications. In addition,
Apprenticeships are delivered in the workplace and are low-cost/no-cost
for learner and employermeaning training budgets can be
diverted to address other needs within an organisation. In a survey
of the CII's membership earlier this year[24],
employers explained that they are crying out for new recruits
with the skills that ensure they are work ready. Apprenticeships
provide those skills and help develop the right attitudes that
employers seek.
6. The CII welcomes this draft Apprenticeship
bill and hopes that its contents will help raise the quality of
the apprenticeship programme to the "world class" level
that the government is targeting and ensure the growth in numbers.
7. We are particularly pleased with the
creation of a National Apprenticeship Service (NAS). This will
provide a focal point for the programme and will hopefully help
pick up some of the slack that currently exists in the system.
This slack is presently dealt with by professional bodies like
the CII. Of utmost importance in relation to the NAS is its ability
to interact and engage with employers and providers on a local,
regional and national scale. If the system is to provide what
is needed by stakeholders, then the NAS has to be able to open
meaningful and productive dialogue from day one. Without this
a "world class" service will remain a pipe dream.
8. We also welcome the duty on schools to
provide information, advice and guidance (IAG) on Apprenticeships
to pupils. We believe that there is a worrying lack of IAG around
Apprenticeships (particularly in the FS sector)this applies
to both learners and employers. A "world class" Apprenticeship
service will require world class advice and so we would raise
a question around securing good quality advice in schools. How
is the government going to make sure that young people are receiving
the right kind of information? We hope that this duty will help
bring about a step change (through good quality advice) so that
young people can make an informed choice around their career options,
rather than one which reflects the experience of their parents
or those offering careers advice. Once this has been done there
is a larger job to be continued around the FS sector reaching
out to its future workforce, and the CII is taking active steps
to ensure the success of this activity.
9. In relation to the clauses covering Apprentice
frameworks, it is pleasing that those entrusted with the power
to issue a framework will have to provide a "sell-by date"though
this should not mean that the framework is not revisited until
that time. Business needs can change quickly; we live in a fast
moving economy. Therefore Apprenticeship frameworks have to be
flexible and responsive to employer needs. The government has
to make sure that those with the power to issue frameworks understand
this and are able to keep them under constant review. This is
ability to respond quickly and decisively in light of what employers
want, which may differ from what appears in a framework, is what
will set a "world-class" programme apart from the rest.
10. We do recognise that there are a number
of other barriers to achieving success that the government, business
and the economy as a whole want and it is questionable as to whether
this draft bill will help tackle them. The biggest question for
us as a professional body involved with Apprenticeships is whether
there is or will be the capacity on the provider side. We worry
that there will simply not be enough organisations to deliver
the programme, particularly when young people will be legally
entitled to Apprenticeship provision. Though legislation is perhaps
not the right vehicle to address this potential problem we feel
that the government needs to acknowledge this shortcoming and
tackle it in some way.
September 2008
24 CII Annual Membership Skills Survey-published May
2008. See: http://www.cii.co.uk/downloaddata/CII_Group_Skills_Survey_2008.pdf Back
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