There are a number of proposals in ‘World-class Apprenticeships’ aimed at supporting and encouraging small business in taking on apprentices, These included the recently launched sector growth pilots. These pilots are designed to trial a range of support including wage and training subsidies and while this is not exclusively for small businesses, they will be encouraged to bid for this funding. We are also developing proposals set out in World Class Apprenticeships to support SMEs to form their own Group Training Associations to support the delivery of Apprenticeships.
We are developing the Apprenticeship Frameworks to be more flexible and responsive. This will involve relaxing the current arrangements to allow employers to submit their own frameworks for funding, by drawing from a Sector Skills Council ‘bank’ of qualifications.
We are also working with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, who recently surveyed SMEs to establish how the new National Apprenticeship Service can better meet the needs of employers. The survey focused on, although not limited to, reducing the administrative burden on them. Together we will consider how best to incorporate the recommendations coming out of the survey.