{"id":68541,"date":"2016-03-14T11:16:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T11:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=933f62da252a0448bfa8703f2f5470f8"},"modified":"2016-03-14T11:16:46","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T11:16:46","slug":"speech-rising-to-the-top-why-the-government-is-committed-to-apprenticeships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=68541","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Rising to the top: why the government is committed to apprenticeships"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thanks Lizzie.<\/p>\n

As a minister I give a lot of speeches at a lot of venues.<\/p>\n

Normally they\u2019re in dull conference centres or anonymous lecture theatres.<\/p>\n

So this is really something else!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a bit worried everyone\u2019s going to be concentrating on the view rather than on what I have to say. Although I\u2019m sure some people would call it a welcome distraction!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a big guy, either, so this a rare opportunity for me to look down on Nick Boles!<\/p>\n

He\u2019s down there somewhere\u2026<\/p>\n

The whole of London is spread out below us.<\/p>\n

I can see everywhere I\u2019ve worked in this great city, from the Square Mile to Westminster.<\/p>\n

And when you were staring out of the windows before the event began, you could see all those tiny little trains and buses snaking their way through the capital.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re carrying millions of people on their way to work, to school, to university. <\/p>\n

And thousands more young Londoners will be on their way to an apprenticeship.<\/p>\n

Now for too long, apprenticeships were seen as a second-best option. <\/p>\n

A safety net for kids who didn\u2019t make it to A-levels or university.<\/p>\n

But we know that\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n

We know apprenticeships are real jobs, paying a real wage and providing a real education.<\/p>\n

We know they\u2019re an excellent way for young people to gain the skills they need to compete and for employers to develop the leaders of tomorrow. <\/p>\n

Some of the apprentices travelling to work down below will be heading to Google, or Burberry, or Pinewood Studios.<\/p>\n

Others will be on their way to Nestle and John Lewis. <\/p>\n

Further afield they\u2019ll be clocking on to maintain giant jet engines at Rolls Royce, or to build Typhoon fighters at BAE.<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re joined by Starbucks, Greene King, Deloitte, Prezzo, Fortnum & Mason and Goldman Sachs. <\/p>\n

And all of them will be announcing significant plans to take on more apprentices of their own. <\/p>\n

Apprenticeships are an incredible opportunity for people who want to achieve incredible things.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why this government is giving them the respect they deserve. <\/p>\n

In the last Parliament we saw more than 2.5 million people start apprenticeships.<\/p>\n

In this one we\u2019re going to create at least 3 million more. <\/p>\n

Think about what that means.<\/p>\n

Millions of young people unlocking a new career.<\/p>\n

Millions of young people gaining the experience, qualifications and business knowledge that can take them anywhere.<\/p>\n

Millions of young people learning the skills they need to rise to the top of the 21st century jobs market.<\/p>\n

And think about the hundreds of thousands of employers who will benefit.<\/p>\n

The successful companies that can plug a skills gap with British workers rather than looking overseas.<\/p>\n

The small businesses that can take on and train up the new staff they need in order to grow.<\/p>\n

I mention small businesses for a reason.<\/p>\n

Many larger employers have already recognised the benefits of offering apprenticeships.<\/p>\n

But too many small and medium-sized firms, the backbone of our economy, are still missing out.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m pleased to see the National Apprenticeship Service working closely with groups such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce.<\/p>\n

In turn, they\u2019re asking their members to make a commitment to apprenticeships.<\/p>\n

And together we\u2019re showing how every business, no matter how small, no matter how niche, can see a real return on investment when they take on an apprentice.<\/p>\n

Larger employers, meanwhile, are getting set up for the new Apprenticeship Levy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to arrive next year and I know there\u2019s been a bit of concern about this.<\/p>\n

Some people see it as an extra tax, an extra burden.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s really nothing to be afraid of.<\/p>\n

For starters, it will only affect the very biggest companies, those with a pay bill of \u00a33 million or more.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s less than 2% of employers, those at the very top.<\/p>\n

I know how hard it is to run a small business, how many demands you face.<\/p>\n

How the last thing you need or want is someone from the government turning up with another bright idea! <\/p>\n

But if that\u2019s you, don\u2019t worry \u2013 you\u2019re not going to be affected by the new levy at all.<\/p>\n

And if you ARE in the top 2%, I don\u2019t want you to worry either! <\/p>\n

The levy is simply a straightforward way of funding the increase in high quality apprenticeship training.<\/p>\n

It will be set at 0.5% of your pay bill and will be collected via PAYE<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Control of the money it raises will be put in the hands of employers, so they can use it to deliver the training they need.<\/p>\n

There won\u2019t be someone sat in Whitehall handing out grants or telling you how to spend it.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re really committed to training you\u2019ll even be able to get back more than you put in.<\/p>\n

The whole thing will be managed and run through the Digital Apprenticeship Service.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a lot more than an online bank account.<\/p>\n

Through the service, employers will be able to choose an apprenticeship training course, choose a training provider, even find the right candidate to take on.<\/p>\n

And in future, all employers of all sizes will have access to the service \u2013 regardless of whether they\u2019re big enough to pay in to it. <\/p>\n

Of course, if you\u2019re paying for something you want to know it\u2019s worth the money.<\/p>\n

It would be easy for us to hit our 3 million target by piling up cheap but useless training courses.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not going to help employers or apprentices. <\/p>\n

We need apprenticeships that are relevant, challenging and fit for purpose. <\/p>\n

And we need them to be respected, valued, and held in esteem by employers, individuals and wider society. <\/p>\n

In short, we need apprenticeships that we are all proud of.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why quality has always been more important to us than quantity.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re protecting the term \u2018apprenticeship\u2019, so cowboy operators can\u2019t use it.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why we\u2019re creating an Institute for Apprenticeships.<\/p>\n

The Institute will support the development and delivery of high quality apprenticeship standards and assessment plans.<\/p>\n

It will act as the guarantor of quality in the system. It will do this entirely independently of government.<\/p>\n

And it will be up and running by around this time next year.<\/p>\n

I grew up on Stapleton Road in Bristol, which a tabloid once dubbed \u2018Britain\u2019s most dangerous street\u2019. <\/p>\n

Sure, it wasn\u2019t exactly salubrious, but the people I knew around there weren\u2019t bad, or lazy, or stupid.<\/p>\n

More often than not they just lacked the opportunities that many take for granted.<\/p>\n

My school careers advisor told me I should set my sights no higher an entry-level job at Radio Rentals.<\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t say that because he thought I could learn a trade and get qualifications.<\/p>\n

He was just telling me what kids from Stapleton Road were expected to do. <\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t go to university \u2013 we simply left school at 16 and got ourselves a low-paid, low-skilled job.<\/p>\n

In 2016, I\u2019m not prepared to tolerate that attitude.<\/p>\n

Every young person has the potential to succeed, and everyone should have the opportunity to succeed. <\/p>\n

This Apprenticeship Week, I want to see government and business come together to make that happen.<\/p>\n

I want us to deliver high-quality, employer-led training.<\/p>\n

I want us to create the highly skilled workforce Britain needs.<\/p>\n

And I want us to give ALL of Britain\u2019s young people the opportunity they need to rise to the top. <\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business Secretary Sajid Javid launches National Apprenticeship Week 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}