Apprenticeships

Baroness Donaghy Excerpts

Thursday 14th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Donaghy]

My Lords, when I put my name down to speak in this debate, I had a conversation with my brother, who lives in Australia, and who worked for many years in the industrial maintenance of heating systems. He occasionally supervised apprentices. I asked him about his most vivid experience of working with an apprentice, and he replied that he once needed to climb a ladder to switch off a valve near the roof of a factory and asked his apprentice to “foot” the ladder. This was in the days before using a cherry-picker was considered a safe alternative for this sort of job. For those who are not sure, footing the ladder meant that the apprentice had to stay by the ladder and place his foot on the bottom rung to prevent it slipping. My brother emphasised the importance of not moving away from the ladder; he said, “If World War III breaks out, it is all right to shoot back but you do not take your foot off the ladder”. This is beginning to sound like a Gerard Hoffnung record. When my brother had climbed to the top of the ladder to turn off the valve, he looked down before beginning his descent and discovered to his horror that the apprentice had moved away from the ladder and was talking to his mates about the night before. When he came safely down the ladder—and I shall interpret this for the House of Lords—he had to admonish the apprentice for disobeying his instruction.

That anecdote taught me four things. First, I shall not be asking my brother for anecdotes ever again. Secondly, clarity of instruction, including warnings of the outbreak of World War III, does not always get through. Thirdly, there are boring aspects to all jobs, but they can prevent serious accidents, some of them fatal. Finally, inspiring and motivating is an important part of any trainer’s armoury.

My interest in apprenticeships stems from my time on the Low Pay Commission and from the inquiry that I conducted last year for the previous Government on fatal accidents in the construction industry. I was party to the original Low Pay Commission recommendations on apprentice pay rates despite their unpopularity even with my own union at the time. I am particularly pleased that the commission is having another look at this issue while maintaining the first principles of supporting a competitive economy, with the rates being set at a prudent level, being simple and straightforward and, finally, making a difference. I am sure that the Government will take its eventual recommendations seriously.

The last Low Pay Commission report shows the distribution of apprenticeships as follows: 49 per cent in hairdressing, early years, health and social care, business administration and customer service, retail and hospitality; 26 per cent in that ubiquitous category “other”; and 25 per cent in construction, engineering, electro-technical and motor industries, quite a small proportion of which is in construction. While not trying to play down the importance of that 49 per cent, I cannot help thinking that these, on the whole, low-paying occupations find mutual benefit in employing apprentices on an even lower rate for eight months to two years. It is a very different situation in construction.

I am a supporter of the construction industry, which consists of entrepreneurial, can-do people. It is vital to the UK economy and provides significant numbers of people with employment, but its record on apprentices is not good. As I wrote in my report last year, “All the major reports”, written about construction,

“refer to the industry’s poor image and reluctance of parents to encourage entry into the industry as one of the major draw-backs ... As the majority of the workforce (approx 55%) have skills below NVQ level 2 or equivalent and approx 11% hold ‘low or no qualifications’ ... it is clear ... there is ... a long way to go”.

The structure of the construction industry—some would say its absence of structure—means that it is easier to poach from other companies than to train. That problem is not exclusive to the construction industry.

During the inquiry we did a considerable amount of work through case studies. What emerged is that almost equal numbers of qualified but inexperienced workers and experienced but unqualified workers were involved in fatal accidents, so both elements are equally important. A well trained apprentice in construction is less likely to be a danger to themselves and, just as importantly, to others. This industry still experiences between 50 and 75 fatal accidents every year, and the under-recording of accidents leading to injury is a national scandal. Two of the cases that I came across involved young men who had received little or no training, who were not supervised and, in one case, who was given an instruction that was wholly inappropriate for his level of experience. I spent an evening with one of the families. What happened to their son—he fell off the roof of a factory and died—amounts to a life sentence for his whole family.

More quality apprenticeships in construction will improve the industry, may save lives and may give more opportunity to those young people who 40 years ago would have followed their fathers into the coal, steel or car manufacturing industries, and who are so alienated in today's society. There are around six applicants for each vacant place in construction apprenticeships. There is no lack of interest, but the majority of construction companies fail to train apprentices. With some, that is because of genuine financial uncertainty. Where they do take on apprentices, however, the dropout rate is high. I was given many reasons for this: young people received a poor deal and were taught inappropriate courses; they were not really committed; or they received only 15 hours’ training a week instead of 33 hours, which applied years ago. The picture is slightly better in Scotland, with eight apprentices for every 100 workers compared with 0.9 for every 100 workers in London, and the extent of self-employment must also have a major impact on training.

The point was made by some organisations whose representatives I met that the narrowness of training sometimes adds to the risk on site, where a multidisciplinary approach is often expected. This led to workers performing tasks with which they were not familiar, another major cause of fatal accidents in construction. Examples were given of builders who installed solar panels but who were not skilled roofers and often put themselves at risk. Another point was made that the 16 to 19 age range for apprenticeships was not always appropriate for certain trades—for instance, sheeting and cladding, where a more mature approach was required.

I called for a more flexible approach to apprentice training grants and a more targeted approach to certain specialisms. This would improve retention and qualification rates. In their response, the previous Government indicated rightly that this piece of work would be the responsibility of the main board of CITB-ConstructionSkills to address in the first instance. They indicate:

“ConstructionSkills may wish to explore the possibility of carrying out work to identify the underlying reasons for the non-completion of apprenticeships. This may also cover students in full-time college courses which some learners may believe are a form of apprenticeship. The research could also touch upon which specialist trades are most appropriate for 19+ year old apprentices”.

In making these comments about the shortcomings of construction apprenticeships, I wish to pay tribute to ConstructionSkills and the CSCS board for the work that they do. The construction trade unions also have an important part to play in their dedication to skills training.

I urge the Government to pick up the baton on these recommendations, which the previous Government accepted in full. I also pay tribute to the work done by the business department in ConstructionSkills to co-ordinate efforts to rescue those apprentices where a job was no longer guaranteed after training. I hope that in any future discussion about the structure and financing of ConstructionSkills, the Government will bear in mind all the work that has already been done by Sir Michael Latham and Sir John Egan as well as the important initiatives taken by my noble friend Lord Prescott in this area. I thank my noble friend Lady Wall for instigating this debate.