Government rejects Labour accusations over apprenticeships target

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said 60% of Government departments had missed the deadline.

Labour’s Bridget Phillipson condemned the Government (Nigel Roddis/PA) (PA Archive)

The Government has rejected Labour accusations that departments across Whitehall could not “even deliver on their own target” on hiring enough apprentices.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Labour analysis showed that parts of the Government, including the Department for Education (DfE), had missed their targets for the number of apprentices they wanted to hire.

But the DfE said the target was to employ an average of at least 2.3% of staff as new apprentice starts over a period – not in a single year – and therefore the target had been hit.

The Department for Education has been criticised (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Archive)

In 2017, the Government set the target for public sector bodies with 250 or more staff in England to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their staff on apprenticeships up to March 2021. This was then extended for a year to March this year.

Labour claimed their analysis showed 60% of Government departments had failed to do so.

The party said this included the Department for Education, which they said took on just 142 apprentices last year, out of a workforce of over 7,000.

But a DfE spokesperson said: “It is not true to say the Department for Education has not met the public sector apprenticeship target – which was met successfully between 2017 and 2020.

“We continue to be one of the leading departments in recruiting and supporting apprentices, and across Government the Civil Service met its target of over 30,000 apprenticeships in the year 2020/21.”

Ms Phillipson said: “Apprenticeship starts have plummeted over the last decade, led by a Government which cannot even deliver on their own target.

“Labour is working with employers, educators and training providers to deliver the skills our country needs to prosper. The Government should have adopted Labour’s plan for a wage subsidy delivering 100,000 new apprenticeship starts this year, and ensure every young person is leaving education ready for work and ready for life.”

However the DfE spokesperson said: “As the lead department responsible for apprenticeships, we are taking action to support more people to do an apprenticeship and gain the skills they need to build a rewarding career.”

They added: “Growing apprenticeship starts remains a key priority and we are pleased to see that the latest figures show a big rise in the number of people starting apprenticeships this academic year.

“We will continue to work with employers to boost the number of apprenticeships available including by increasing apprenticeship funding by £2.7 billion by 2024-25 to support businesses of all sizes to build the skilled workforce they need.”