Employers must not be “hit by a double whammy” of charges after the government’s planned apprenticeship levy is introduced, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned.

The government launched a consultation on its plans for a new apprenticeship levy for larger employers on August 21, which the CBI criticised for failing to give any indication of the size of workforce this would entail.

Now Neil Carberry (pictured), CBI director for employment and skills, has spoken out on the issue of how it would work alongside existing levies.

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is part-funded by a levy on employers in that sector.

It allows the CITB to develop qualifications and standards and give out £150m a year in grants, paid for through the levy, to employers to help pay for training — which could, for example, be spent on apprentices’ wages or to pay for a mentor.

The separate Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) also charges a levy, which supports a wide variety of training for employees and contractors involved with the build, repair and maintenance of the UK’s energy and process industries.

Mr Carberry said: “The CBI is currently looking at how the new [apprenticeship] levy system should operate to be most effective, including in construction where the industry recognises the value of investing in the CITB, but it’s important that employers are not hit by a double-whammy [with the other levies].”

Stephen Radley, director of policy and strategic planning at CITB, said that decision over whether the existing CITB levy should continues, and in what form, “really depends on whether the industry wants to continue paying it”.

“We are working with the government and employers to look at different options — which could include a lower existing levy to run alongside the apprenticeship levy.”

He conceded that there is “a concern” that some employers would “consider it unreasonable to have to pay both [levies].”

Mr Radley also said that though the new apprenticeship levy could cover the costs of investing in apprenticeships for larger firms, CITB would still need to support smaller employers who deliver the majority of apprenticeships in construction but would apparently not pay the new charge.

“If the government sticks with the usual definition for large businesses for the new levy, which is typically 250 in government legislation, it would draw in 220 construction industry employers in contrast to 25,000 levy payers across the industry,” he said.

“It’s because, in our industry 96 per cent of companies have nine employees or less and the vast majority are small or medium-sized. And unlike other industries they deliver most of the apprenticeships.”

Chris Claydon, chief executive of ECITB, welcomed “steps to increase the skills and productivity in the workforce and meet the challenging government target of 3m new apprenticeships over the next five years”.

But he said: “Without more detail on the [apprenticeship levy] proposal, it is difficult to see how it could be implemented.

The ECITB is, however, still “keen to work closely with the government on the apprenticeship levy and will consider how it could interact with existing sector levy boards,” Mr Claydon said.

He added that over the 25 years that ECITB has been in operation, it has an “enviable record in successful delivery of apprenticeships. As an industry we deliver 36 apprenticeships per 1,000 workers against a national average of 12 per 1,000”.

Mr Claydon said that it was also important to note that the two levies “are raised differently and for different purposes”.

“The apprenticeship levy will pay for training and assessment of apprentices for large

employers,” he added.

“The industrial training levy in contrast raises a skills investment fund which supports all types of training across the whole industry.”

Sector leaders have complained about “patchy” government support for providers joining the battle against the radicalisation of learners, after a survey indicated that 45 per cent of FE staff were not trained for the task.

From September 21, FE institutions will be subject to the prevent duty, which requires them to put policies in place to prevent potential radicalisation of learners and exposure to extremism.

But the results of a new survey of Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members working in English FE colleges, which was published on Friday (September 18), indicated that 45 per cent of those questioned had not had any training in how to stop students being drawn into terrorism.

The survey, carried out with 157 respondents at the end of last term, also indicated that 29 per cent of staff were not aware that FE colleges would be subject to the duty.

It comes after the head of MI5, Andrew Parker, warned on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday (September 17) that the terrorist threat to the UK was now rated as severe, meaning an attack is likely.

Chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) David Igoe said: “We welcome this report from ATL, highlighting, as it does, the lack of preparation for staff who are at the front line in exercising these duties.

“Training is patchy and colleges report some excellent support from the prevent co-ordinators and also a significant lack of support and training in some regions.”

He added that “SFCs have been kept informed by the SFCA of the new prevent duties and the training available and most have undertaken staff training to support this.

“Our other concern is the role of Ofsted in monitoring colleges’ preparedness and response to the new statutory duty.

“It would be a pity if the focus of attention for colleges is keeping the inspectors happy rather than addressing the real and challenging issue of how to recognise students in danger of radicalisation.”

David Corke, director of education and skills policy at the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “The AoC supports the extension of the ‘prevent’ duty to colleges. The safeguarding of students is of paramount importance.”

But he added that there had been “a relatively short timeframe for colleges to prepare for the duty”.

“This is no easy task but AoC has provided training, conferences and webinars to help colleges,” he said.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said that his organisation had been working “to ensure that providers have the resources available to respond effectively to their prevent responsibilities.

“It’s also important that providers follow the guidance in the Ofsted handbook, although we have pointed out that implementing the strategy in a work based learning environment where the employer is ultimately responsible for the safeguarding of employees poses special challenges.”

Security Minister John Hayes, who visited Westminster Kingsway College (WKC) on Thursday (September 10) to discuss the prevent duty with a number of London college leaders including WKC principal Andy Wilson, told FE Week that good progress had been made with training.

He said: “We have worked closely with all of the sectors affected to ensure they are aware of their new responsibilities, are able to recognise the signs that someone may be being drawn into terrorism and know how to access help and support.”

Mr Wilson said: “We discussed [with Mr Hayes] how colleges engage and re-engage young people who might otherwise have limited contact with institutions which help them avoid radicalisation.

But he added: “We talked about how resource intensive the process of identifying those who might be vulnerable to radicalisation was because any changes in behaviour are often subtle.

“We made the point that resources for this sort of support are threatened if funding rates or financial support for disadvantaged and inner-city students is reduced.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We will assess the extent to which FE and skills providers are protecting learners from the risks of radicalisation and extremism.

“They should make sure their staff know what to do when they have concerns.

“Our inspectors will look for evidence of actions taken in preparation for the new duty, rather than looking at the provider’s policies.”

Click here to read an exclusive expert piece from Security Minister John Hayes

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The Prevent duty: in brief

The duty places a responsibility on providers to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

Meanwhile, government guidance on the issue states that ‘prevent’ is designed to deal with all forms extremism that can popularise views “which terrorists then exploit”.

A Home Office spokesperson told FE Week that a “significant” amount of staff training had already taken place in the FE sector, “predominantly through the network of regional prevent co-ordinators (RPCs)”.

“There are 10 RPCs for FE and higher education in place across England and Wales working with colleges and universities to help them identify the risk of radicalisation on campus by supporting institutions to put in place appropriate policies and practice,” she added.

Organisations offering guidance on the duty include the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which has released a fact sheet outlining the duty and its implications for FE.

The 157 Group has also published an online tool kit which explains the different education and training organisations tackling extremism.

A 157 Group spokesperson said: “Preventing people from being drawn into terrorism has never been more important.

“In August 2014, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre raised the threat level to severe, in response to the heightened threat facing the country.”

The University and College Union has released a guide for all of its members about how the prevent duty applies in the FE sector and lists the main points that institutions are expected to carry out.

The points include demonstrating that staff have undertaken appropriate prevent duty training and have procedures in place for sharing information about vulnerable students.

FE Week reported five months ago that the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) had unveiled a new website to help FE and skills providers stop learners falling prey to radical terror groups.

The website, officially unveiled on April 17, is called Prevent for Further Education and Training: Complying with the Prevent Duty.

The ETF is offering a number of free online training modules for the prevent duty, for example covering practitioners, support staff, leaders and managers, and board members.

A spokesperson said that “already 4,700 individuals from governors to support staff have used it [the module service].

“We’ve had good feedback from participants. In addition, the website has had over 16,000 sessions.”

To access the support visit:

 www.157group.co.uk/157-prevent-toolkit

www.atl.org.uk/Images/adv84-understanding-prevent-duty.pdf

www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/8/i/Prevent_duty_guidance_Jul15.pdf

www.et-foundation.co.uk/news/further-support-available-to-help-providers-meet-their-prevent-duties/

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Editor’s comment

Safety is paramount

The widespread sector support that has been expressed for the prevent duty is to be welcomed.

However, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers survey suggests that there may be a problem with the preparations of colleges for this.

The complaint by the Sixth Form College Association that training has been ‘patchy’ is also worrying and the Association of Colleges was right to say that the timeframe for complying has been somewhat truncated.

However, the government is right to get FE involved with the battle against extremism.

It is now our duty as a sector to pull together and move pillar and post to ensure that we are in the best possible position to root out trouble to the best of everyone’s abilities.

We owe it to all the talented staff and students who make our colleges and independent learning providers the diverse and welcoming places that they are.

Their safety must always be the number one priority and the warning from the head of MI5, Andrew Parker, that a terrorist attack is likely throws it all into sharp focus.

 

 

An investigation into the impact of the government’s devolution and localism proposals on further education is being launched by the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the University of Oxford.

The research project called “leadership in a world of change” will seek to evaluate how localism is being devised against a backdrop of further education funding cuts.

Funded by a grant from the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), the scheme will produce an indepth research report and a series of events aimed to identify approaches for college leaders to ensure localism works for colleges, students and the local and national community.

Gill Clipson (pictured above), deputy chief executive of the AoC said: “Colleges are firmly part of their local communities however, the concept of localism is being promulgated at a time of fiscal constraint and this may be bring challenges that are as yet not fully appreciated.

“Leadership in a world of change will help inform policy makers, as well as colleges, as all parties strive to ensure that any system of reform protects the positive things that are known to work as well as introducing changes that will stand the test of time and deliver the envisaged improvements.”

In July, FE Week reported the Treasury’s productivity plan which included the devolution and localism proposals.

It stated the involvement of regional authorities in the skills agenda was to extend beyond its traditional flagship areas like Manchester and Sheffield.

Ayub Khan (pictured right), interim chief executive at FETL, said: “The FE and skills sector needs time and space to think about the changes required to help strengthen its future. This project will contribute to the body of knowledge for the sector providing the research and evidence of what works in the context of localism.”

The research report is due to be published in summer 2016.

The government’s Careers and Enterprise Company was today due to announce the roll-out of its piloted system of ‘enterprise advisers’ to go into colleges and schools.

The plan, announced in July, is for all 39 local enterprise partnerships (Leps) across the country to employ ‘enterprise co-ordinators’ to work with the advisers — with 28 Leps initially taking part from this month.

The advisers will work on the co-ordinators’ behalf with schools and colleges, briefing learners about employment options and any vocational training needed to secure jobs, a careers company spokesperson said.

She said that the aim will be to have advisers going into all 3,800 state-funded secondary schools across the country, and they will also work with local FE colleges.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “The nationwide roll-out of the enterprise adviser network is a significant milestone for the [Careers and Enterprise] company, signalling its commitment — shared by this government — to giving young people across the country a first-hand insight into the world of work.”

An FE Week report in July revealed that prominent management consultant and former adviser to Tony Blair Claudia Harris (pictured above) had been appointed chief executive of the £20m employer-led company.

She said: “Young people need to be inspired, helped to better understand the relevance of their education, and supported in making independent and fact-based decisions about their futures.

“Our role is to shine a light on the many excellent schemes that exist today, fills gaps and improve coverage. The enterprise adviser network will allow us to do this.”

The company spokesperson said: “The roll out [of enterprise advisers] follows a set of successful pilots over the past year.

“Every Lep in the country has expressed interest in this network and the company is working with them to initiate a nationwide roll out.”

She added that “28 [Lep] areas will launch in September with a second wave starting before Christmas and a third in early 2016”.

Stewart Segal, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, told FE Week: “While we welcome anything that helps to improve careers advice for learners about vocational training, these advisers will have to make sure that they work with the existing careers advice services available to learners and do not confuse the situation.”

Martin Doel, chief executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “Enterprise advisers should introduce young people to employers from the working world, which will help them make some of the most important decisions of their life in choosing a future career path.

“We have been lobbying Ministers and officials about careers advice for years and although this new approach won’t solve everything overnight we think it is a step in the right direction.‎”

Neil Carberry, Confederation of British Industry director for education and skills, said: “Businesses want to work with government and schools to deliver a step-change in careers support, which is not offering our young people enough help at the moment.

“Enterprise advisers will be a big help towards that.”