Apprenticeship Levy a ‘looming car crash’: EEF

The organisation’s research claimed only 1% of manufacturers supported the levy’s roll out in its current form while almost three quarters wanted it delayed.

More than two-thirds of firms agreed with the government’s drive to boost apprenticeships but 18% thought that the current Apprenticeship Levy could deliver this.

The food and drink manufacturing sector will see a shortfall of skilled workers totalling 130,000 people by 2025, according to the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink.

EEF director of employment and skills policy Tim Thomas said: “The headlong rush to bring this levy to market has left little time to iron out some significant wrinkles and get responses to industry’s unanswered questions.​

‘Looming car crash’​

“As a result, firms can see serious flaws that could sink this policy at launch. This is in nobody’s interests, which is why we’re recommending a delay to buy us all enough time to avoid the looming car crash.”​

Of the businesses EEF surveyed, 92% wanted the levy to be simple to administer, 89% wanted it to be easy to understand and 79% wanted easy access to funding.

“Apprenticeships are vital for our sector and the UK economy and it’s important that we get this scheme right,”​ said Thomas.

“That means taking the time to build a swift, sturdy and simple system that businesses can rely on and trust.”​

The latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey claimed that companies were spending more money on training and retraining.

‘Skills shortages’​

CBI director for economics Rain Newton-Smith said: “Higher spending on training is often a sign that skills shortages are biting again.​

“This further underlines the need for business and government to work together in the coming months and make sure we get the design of the apprenticeship levy right.”​

Meanwhile, 2 Sisters Food Group technical learning and development manager Janette Graham has underlined the manufacturer’s support for the government’s Trailblazer programme of apprenticeships.

In an exclusive interview with Food Manufacture​ at Foodex in the past month, she said: “Within Trailblazers – in which I have been involved as chair on the operations side of things – we have an employer­-led group that covers all areas of the food and drink industry.​

“Apprentices are very important for 2 Sisters Food Group.​ We need to drive young talent into the business. We​ [the food manufacturing sector] have an ageing workforce, so we need to recruit people for the future.”​

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