“We welcome the proposed expansion in the number of apprenticeships by 90,000 although it will be a challenge to get more employers to offer them. There are two key issues that needed addressed.
The first relates to employer engagement and how employers are incentivised to take on apprentices that have partially completed their apprenticeships elsewhere. Portability of apprenticeships is a problem that does not appear to be addressed by the proposed Bill, but we believe it will be key to improving employer support and youth participation rates.
Secondly, whilst we are encouraged by the extension of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to all young people taking Entry to Employment courses, we hope the Government has reviewed the tax implications for those on apprenticeships. Currently, if you go into an apprenticeship programme you pay the standard tax rates and it can have an adverse impact on the family benefits and tax credits. We strongly support the EMA but let’s not penalise those young people who are looking to enter employment via an apprenticeship.
In terms of NEETs, again the government has announced significant improvements. However, we strongly encourage them to become more sophisticated in their classification of NEETS and identify those young people who are the hardest to reach within the estimated 10 per cent who currently fall within this group.
“If the Government does this we will be better placed to provide the intensive support needed to motivate the most marginalised and most at risk of dropping out of education and training. The short-term cost will be high, but the long-term social cost of doing nothing is even greater. For instance, A4e runs Life Academies for children aged between 14 and 16 years who are struggling at school and at risk of exclusion and provides them with highly personalised education. This costs around £9,000 per learner but it could cost the government £60,000 to process a court appearance should the young person drop out of the system and turn to crime; and re-offending costs this country over £11 billion per year.
The first relates to employer engagement and how employers are incentivised to take on apprentices that have partially completed their apprenticeships elsewhere. Portability of apprenticeships is a problem that does not appear to be addressed by the proposed Bill, but we believe it will be key to improving employer support and youth participation rates.
Secondly, whilst we are encouraged by the extension of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) to all young people taking Entry to Employment courses, we hope the Government has reviewed the tax implications for those on apprenticeships. Currently, if you go into an apprenticeship programme you pay the standard tax rates and it can have an adverse impact on the family benefits and tax credits. We strongly support the EMA but let’s not penalise those young people who are looking to enter employment via an apprenticeship.
In terms of NEETs, again the government has announced significant improvements. However, we strongly encourage them to become more sophisticated in their classification of NEETS and identify those young people who are the hardest to reach within the estimated 10 per cent who currently fall within this group.
“If the Government does this we will be better placed to provide the intensive support needed to motivate the most marginalised and most at risk of dropping out of education and training. The short-term cost will be high, but the long-term social cost of doing nothing is even greater. For instance, A4e runs Life Academies for children aged between 14 and 16 years who are struggling at school and at risk of exclusion and provides them with highly personalised education. This costs around £9,000 per learner but it could cost the government £60,000 to process a court appearance should the young person drop out of the system and turn to crime; and re-offending costs this country over £11 billion per year.
"Lastly, given the increased role of Local Authorities (LAs) in the provision of advice and guidance to young people, let’s make sure they are fully equipped to provide a consistently high level of support for the hardest to reach. As well as LAs providing advice on educational choices, there needs to be a holistic approach to the type of support provided for NEETS. The childcare scheme for young mothers should be extended to include male parents, plus there needs to be a focus on financial guidance and offender education.”
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