The MOST Spring/Summer 2021

| 17 LANCASHIRE WORK BASED LEARNING FORUM In the last edition of ‘The Most’ I wrote about the challenges and struggles that the (like so many others) apprenticeship and skills sector faced in light of the pandemic. There are numerous examples that I could give where, unfortunately, apprentices have not been able to retain employment and therefore their apprenticeship but thankfully not to the scale that was or is anticipated. However, for each and every redundancy or job loss there is a person, whether young or old, who has lost an opportunity, an opportunity to thrive, to showcase their growing talent and make a positive impact to business and the economy. Most will have the resilience to bounce back in their chosen field, others will see it as an opportunity to reconsider their career ambitions. Employers’ responsibilities for staff wellbeing and mental health has never been as important to support their workforce but most of all those that may not have found the resilience to put recent struggles behind them and to move on. The current apprenticeship incentives that can see an employer receive up to £4000 for taking on an apprentice has gone some way to engaging employers in apprenticeships and long may they continue but what about those already on apprenticeship programmes where there has been, in most cases, disruption to on the job training. Apprenticeship providers have done a brilliant job, in keeping learners learning on theoretical development but it’s so important that these are then applied in practice to develop their skills. Employers and the apprenticeship providers need to work more closely than ever to progress their apprentices and guide them to success. Preston’s College as with all other Lancashire colleges, private training providers and universities who are members of the Lancashire Forum are more determined than ever to support skills development and business growth. Lancashire has a strong network of partners who’s existence is to support skills development, from the providers, the forum to the LEP and its Skills Hub. The Strategic framework details what and how this is being and will be done. Employer Apprenticeship Engagement Most, if not all large businesses where they pay into an apprenticeship account through a levy, engage in apprenticeships, whether recruiting apprentices or upskilling existing staff but nationally these make up 2% of business across the country. There is a lot of work to increase this engagement across the 98% that are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This, with our partners is a huge priority and to support this we are excited to announce that, as from June, we will have a Lancashire Levy Transfer Service where large, levy paying organisations can pledge up to 25% of their levy funds to pay for apprenticeship training in other organisations, large or small. Over £1bn, nationally of unspent apprenticeship levy went back to the Treasury recently, the more that can be retained in the county to support apprenticeships, business recovery and growth the better, for more information contact tim@lancsforum.co.uk Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) Programme Over 15,000 school pupils across Lancashire have been involved in the ASK programme this academic year so far, the most ever for this programme. Various activities have been undertaken by them to help them best prepare for securing an apprenticeship including application and mock assessment sessions, sector workshops to get a better understanding about different industries and hearing from our Apprenticeship Ambassadors on what to expect. Many of the pupils who will move on to post-16 education this year have not had the benefit of work placement and experience of working in businesses, transition from school to the world of work and starting their career is probably one of the biggest steps they will ever make and we all need to make sure that the support is their for them to be able to do so and to enjoy it as they go. Tim Cutler Lancashire Work Based Learning Forum