Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Skills Funding Agency statistics on Apprenticeship Achievements by framework code, level and gender, 2002-03 to 2013-14, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the reduction in the proportion of engineering apprenticeships which were undertaken by women between 2002 and 2014.
Answered by Nick Boles
The proportion of apprenticeship starts by women on the Engineering apprenticeship framework in England decreased from 4.6 per cent in 2002/03 to 3.8 per cent in 2013/14. The volume of apprenticeship starts on this framework by women actually increased by over ten percent over this period, but there was a larger proportionate increase in male apprentices in this period.
We are encouraging more young women to enter science and engineering careers, including apprenticeships. The annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEWeek) acts a focal point to encourage them to consider a career in engineering. The Your Life campaign inspires young people to study maths and physics as a gateway to STEM careers. The STEM Ambassadors programme is a network of over 28,000 volunteers working with schools across the UK, 40% of whom are women.
We are taking action to support the growth of apprenticeships in all areas to meet our commitment to 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Young Women's Trust on page 13 of its report, Making apprenticeships work for young women, that apprenticeships are reinforcing, rather than challenging, occupational segregation by gender.
Answered by Nick Boles
We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts in England by 2020.
Women are well-represented within English apprenticeships - 53.0% of starts in 2014/15 were made by women. This is higher than in both 2013/14 (52.9%) and 2009/10 (49.6%). We will continue to support the extension of this positive representation across all sectors.
We have made it a priority to ensure that all young people have access to quality careers advice and support to help them make the right personal choices. This includes communicating career opportunities in sectors such as science and engineering. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraph 2.48 of the National Minimum Wage Low Pay Commission Report Spring 2016, Cm 9207, what assessment he has made of the potential incidence of employers hiring apprentices to avoid paying the new higher minimum wage.
Answered by Nick Boles
No assessment has been made of the potential incidence of employers hiring more apprentices to avoid paying the national minimum wage.
The current minimum wage rate for an apprentice is £3.30 per hour. This applies to apprentices who are aged under 19 or those in the first year of their Apprenticeship. Apprentices aged 19 or above and in the second year of their apprenticeship must be paid at least the minimum wage rate that relates to their age. This means an apprentice aged 25 or above in the second year must be paid at least the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the findings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on page 5 of its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, if he will take steps to increase the confidence of the public and manufacturers in Government support for the manufacturing sector.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government is creating a highly competitive business environment that makes the UK an attractive location for new manufacturing investment and drives strong productivity growth and export success. We are securing the place of UK Manufacturers at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is why we have invested £300m over five years in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to support the commercialisation of the innovation and new technologies that will be crucial to UK manufacturing success.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what skills businesses in the retail and commercial enterprise sector are required to teach to apprentices to qualify for funding under the Government's apprenticeship programme.
Answered by Nick Boles
In England, apprenticeships must be undertaken under either an agreed Specification for Apprenticeships in England (SASE) framework or a new employer designed apprenticeship standard.
Apprenticeship Frameworks Online (AFO) contains detailed information on all of the apprenticeship frameworks currently available. Apprentices can undertake apprenticeships in Retail and Retail Management under SASE.
Employer-designed apprenticeship standards will replace apprenticeship frameworks. There are three new retail apprenticeship standards ready for delivery – Retailer, Retail Manager and Retail Team Leader. Each of these standards describes the skills, knowledge and behaviours that an apprentice needs to be competent in these occupations.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department received on the requirements to be set for businesses in the retail and commercial enterprise sector to qualify for funding under the apprenticeship programme before those requirements were determined.
Answered by Nick Boles
In England, to qualify for apprenticeships funding, an apprenticeship offered in any sector must comply with the Skills Funding Agency’s funding rules: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sfa-funding-rules-2016-to-2017.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that apprentices in the retail and commercial enterprise sector are taught skills that they would not otherwise be able to learn on the job under a normal employment contract.
Answered by Nick Boles
In England, apprenticeships are jobs with an accompanying skills development programme to support the individual to achieve full competency in an occupation. The apprentice develops through a wide mix of learning in the workplace, formal off-the-job training and the opportunity to practise new skills in a real work environment.
A key expectation of apprenticeships is that they must be more than just training for a single job or employer: they must ensure that apprentices can adapt to a variety of roles, with different employers, and develop the ability to progress their careers. This is set out in the apprenticeship framework or standard.
The list of apprenticeships frameworks available for employers and training organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-frameworks-live-list
A list of all the apprenticeship standards approved by the Skills Funding Agency that are ready for employers and training organisations to use is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-standards-ready-for-delivery
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's practice in consulting manufacturers on policy of the findings by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in its report, Engineered in Britain, on the proportion of manufacturers who consider that the Government is performing well on manufacturing policy.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers report “Engineered in Britain” states that the proportion of manufacturers who consider that the Government is performing well on manufacturing policy rose from 12% in 2011 to 24% in 2015. BIS Ministers and officials hold regular discussions with manufacturing companies and their representatives, including the Sector Councils, to develop a clear understanding of the capabilities and needs of UK manufacturing. Most recently, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills spoke at the EEF National Manufacturing Conference on 24 February 2016 and I attended and spoke at the EEF National Manufacturing Dinner on the same date.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy on apprenticeships of the finding of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, on the number of manufacturers who would be encouraged to take on more apprentices if the Government provided £3,000 to any person who completed their apprenticeship.
Answered by Nick Boles
Apprenticeships are paid jobs. In October 2015 we increased the apprenticeship National Minimum Wage by over 20% to £3.30 per hour for apprentices aged under 19 and those aged 19 and over in the first year of their apprenticeship. Most employers pay more than this. The average gross hourly pay received by apprentices in England is £6.31 an hour for Level 2 and 3 apprentices and £9.69 for higher apprentices.
Apprenticeships have excellent wage returns for individuals over their working life. These add up to between £48,000 and £74,000 for level 2 apprenticeships and between £77,000 and £117,000 for level 3 apprentices. Those completing an apprenticeship at level 4 or above could earn £150,000 more on average over their lifetime.
These are the right long-term financial incentives for individuals to support the growth of apprenticeships towards 3 million new starts by 2020.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding has been allocated to apprenticeships in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nick Boles
The following table shows actual spending figures for apprenticeships in England for Financial Years 2010-2014
£K | FY2010-11 | FY2011-12 | FY2012-13 | FY2013-14 | FY2014-15 |
16 to18 inclusive | 744,870 | 758,966 | 670,211 | 717,575 | 783,198 |
19 and over | 450,880 | 624,602 | 753,886 | 737,022 | 776,573 |
TOTAL | 1,195,750 | 1,383,568 | 1,424,097 | 1,454,597 | 1,559,771 |
Responsibility for the Apprenticeship Programme is shared between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which funds adult apprenticeships (19+) and the Department for Education which funds 16-18 year olds.
The apprenticeships levy will put apprenticeship funding on an even more sustainable footing and improve the technical and professional skills of the workforce, which is an important component of productivity.