Advantages of employer involvement
87. In dual-system countries—but also in
the Netherlands and New Zealand where apprenticeship provision
is more similar to the UK—employers play a central role
in providing and managing apprenticeship (Ashton p 174.). The
experience thereby accumulated becomes training expertise which
benefits apprentices and the business concerned. In the UK, the
employer is all too often the passive partner who 'takes on' an
apprentice when approached by the training provider but is not
required to assume any responsibility for the training of the
apprentice or for the outcome of the apprenticeship.[51]
88. Both apprentice and employer lose out in
this process. The apprentice does not benefit sufficiently
from the potential of the working environment for teaching and
learning. The employer fails to develop a capacity for in-house
training which could be of long-term benefit to the business.
89. The DfES failed to build connections between
key partners in apprenticeship—schools, young people and
employers. The current procedures for providing apprenticeships
have the perverse result of discouraging employers from taking
responsibility for apprentice training. The use of intermediaries
to negotiate apprenticeships with the LSC on behalf of employers
should have been a transitional 'learning' stage, leading to employers
taking full responsibility for the recruitment and training of
apprentices. Instead, these arrangements have become entrenched,
preventing employers from developing the structures and capacity
to train young employees.
90. Employers should be at the centre of all
apprenticeship provision. In our view, all funding for apprenticeships—the
current average yearly spend per apprentice is £3,250—should,
within five years, be re-routed directly to employers. Employers
would then sub-contract any off-the-job training or other services
which they did not themselves provide. This direct financing would
act as a powerful incentive for employers to provide more places.
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