Apprentices: Recruitment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with employers on barriers to apprenticeship recruitment.
Answered by Andrew Western
The government engages regularly with employers and their representative organisations to understand and address barriers to offering apprenticeships, as well as to inform the ongoing development of the growth and skills offer.
This engagement includes our funding and facilitation of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), a group of over 3,000 employers and apprentices operating across all parts of England through nine regional networks. These networks provide buddying and mentoring support to smaller businesses to help them recruit and retain apprentices.
In addition, Skills England is driving forward a service to support major investors and help them navigate the skills system. This sits alongside the focus on large infrastructure projects, where we are helping business to join up with key stakeholders at the local level and build the skilled workforce they need. In addition, the new fast-track approval approach, will support employers to get training for jobs off the ground as quickly as possible and support young people in their careers.
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