Anne Milton | FE Week

Small businesses outline ‘serious concerns’ with stretched apprenticeship budget

The Federation of Small Businesses has raised “serious concerns” about the apprenticeship budget and claims “over a quarter of apprentice employers say reforms have had a negative impact”. In a report published today called ‘Fit for the future: making the apprenticeship system work for small business’, the membership body seeks to influence the forthcoming spending […]

Treasury took back over £300m despite small employers being turned away

The government has for the first time admitted the vast majority of the £400 million underspend from the Department for Education’s apprenticeship budget was taken back by the Treasury. In an interview with FE Week editor Nick Linford, the skills minister Anne Milton was asked how much cash the Treasury clawed back in the financial […]

Minister admits a lot ‘we don’t know yet’ about Treasury backed national retraining scheme

The government still doesn’t know how the national retraining scheme will work or how much it will cost, even though the programme is expected to be rolled out from the summer. Despite the scheme being mooted in June 2017 and the Department for Education being pushed to share more information about it three months ago, […]

Funding clawback for college at risk of cash crisis

A college already in financial difficulty is being forced to pay back nearly £1 million to the government as a result of working with a subcontractor investigated for falsifying learner records. In a report published last Friday by the FE commissioner, North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College was warned that it needed to take “urgent […]

DfE department responsible for apprenticeship policy has hardly any apprentices

The division responsible for running and promoting apprenticeships within the Department for Education employs the lowest proportion of apprentices across the whole department. Of the 519 people working within the DfE’s Higher and Further Education office, fewer than 10, which is less than 1 per cent, are apprentices. It is not clear the exact number […]

Number of approved apprenticeship standards to hit 400 next week

The number of apprenticeship standards approved for delivery is set to hit 400 next week, a little over a year after the Institute for Apprenticeships vowed to get ‘faster and better’. The milestone also comes just six months after it passed the 300 mark, and two months ahead of the institute’s own target date of […]

Skills minister vows to ‘dig deeper’ into level 2 apprenticeships drop

The skills minister has vowed to “dig deeper” into the drop in level two apprenticeships, and whether it might be linked to the rise in management courses. Anne Milton was speaking exclusively to FE Week following a parliamentary debate on apprenticeships and skills at which the issue was raised. “We need to understand exactly what’s […]

Skills minister will ‘look at whether it is right to continue to fund all apprenticeships’

The skills minister has said she will “look at whether it is right” for the government to “continue to fund all apprenticeships”. Anne Milton made the remarks as part of a wide-ranging video interview with Association of Colleges’ boss David Hughes this afternoon, after she was unable to stay for questions at the association’s annual […]

WorldSkills UK Live 2018: Skills minister kicks off ‘bigger and better’ show

The skills minister declared herself to be having an “absolutely fantastic time” as she got stuck into the heart of the action on the first day of the “bigger and better” WorldSkills UK Live this morning. Anne Milton met with apprentices and had-a-go at a number of trades – including virtual engineering and floristry – […]