Go on, check again. Yes, it really is a Conservative
government in power!
It may seem surprising that a Tory government, which is
traditionally associated with a free market ethos and limited public-sector
intervention, has introduced two huge labour market interventions since it was
elected in May. These are the introduction of the National Living Wage and,
more recently, proposals for an apprenticeship levy.
Both announcements are liable to add significant costs to businesses.
We’ve already explored the impact the National Living Wage could have on hospitality
and retail businesses in a recent blog post,
but what are the potential implications of the apprenticeship levy?
The government stresses that the levy will help to address the
need to increase businesses’ investment in training. In fact, the number of businesses training
their staff increased by two per cent in hospitality, and four per cent in the
retail and travel industries between 2011 and 2013.
However, if raising employer investment were the government’s
sole aim, it would introduce a broader training levy and not limit it to
apprenticeships. Most people accept that the levy is a means to fund the government’s
target of creating three million apprenticeships by the end of this Parliament.
Let’s get the ‘three million’ figure out of the way:
- It does not equate to any labour force projections for the types of jobs suitable for apprenticeships
- It is likely to be met – but achieved in some areas where apprentices are not the most appropriate skills solution
- It is driving most decisions about apprenticeships across government.
Why is the government so focused on apprenticeships? Put
simply, it sees a clear equation between an increase in apprenticeships and an
increase in productivity, and believes
that apprenticeships provide a greater return on government investment than full-time
further education.
The danger is that the policy around the levy could not only
undermine this (fairly simplistic)argument, but damage it in a similar way to the
Labour government’s Train to Gain initiative, which had limited to no impact on
productivity before 2010.
At the same time, hospitality, passenger transport, travel
and retail employers have invested a considerable amount of time in developing
new apprenticeship standards - stretching standards that create clear career
progression routes.
Businesses working on the trailblazers (the groups of
employers that have developed the standards and assessment plans) see real
value in them providing a route to attract, develop and progress talent in
their businesses.
The focus on quality apprenticeships has been at the heart
of the reform process to date, which is why so many businesses see them as an
important solution.
Their concern is that, if the levy is poorly implemented, it
could undermine this quality, provide poor or no returns for businesses and not
address the productivity challenge that is central to the government’s economic
strategy.
Here are a few of the potential pitfalls that businesses
need to be aware of:
- The proposal is for all large businesses to pay the levy and it assumes that, if businesses are investing in apprenticeships, they will see a return. Currently, not all businesses have a stable workforce that suits apprenticeships. Do these businesses re-engineer their workforce to be able to offer apprenticeships or stay as they, not employ apprentices and pay a levy they will not benefit from?
- The CBI has suggested that the levy could be 0.5% on PAYE. For some businesses this will mean a lot of apprentices – many more than they need and could benefit from. If the system isn’t flexible, it could result in some people doing an apprenticeship that will not benefit them or their business.
- There is a real danger that some employers who invest heavily in training and development may shift their training expenditure to apprenticeships because of the levy. This would mean less meaningful and effective training and development to meet their other business needs and could hamper productivity, not increase it.
- The scope of the levy is so tight that it fails to support the critical progression onto apprenticeships, such as selection and pre-employment programmes, as well as the management infrastructure needed to support, develop and progress apprentices within a business.
As more information emerges, there will be other issues that
business will need to consider. It is early days, and information is currently
sketchy as the government consults with businesses and training providers.
But most worryingly, because the announcement was made in
the summer, too few businesses are aware of the levy and are not even
considering what it could mean for their operations.
Given the visitor economy’s size with 5.4m employees, it is
critical that businesses start thinking about the levy’s impact and respond
collectively to government. People 1st is currently collecting
employers’ views and has already provided some recommendations to government – you
can add your thoughts here.
It is also critical that the government avoids a 'one size
fits all’ approach, and takes into account the different ways apprenticeships
work in each sector. It should work with existing trailblazers to look at how
the levy can be implemented to help our industries which, in turn, will help it
achieve its aims to raise productivity.