The public sector apprenticeship target was introduced by government in April 2017 in accordance with The Public Sector Apprenticeship Targets Regulations 2017.
The regulations set a target for any public sector employer in England with at least 250 employees to employ an average of 2.3% of their staff as new apprentice starts between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2021.
The target is for new apprenticeship starts which includes both newly employed apprentices and any existing employees that have begun an apprenticeship. All public sector bodies in scope must submit a report annually to the government on their progress in meeting the target.
The Government considers the duty to “have regard" to the target to mean that in making workforce planning decisions, public bodies should actively consider apprenticeships, either for new recruits or as part of career development for existing staff.
Local authorities have until 30 September in each year to complete and submit the return.
As well as the data return, local authorities are also required to publish some information about their progress made towards meeting the target.
Progress towards meeting the public sector apprenticeship target
The target for the number of apprenticeship starts in Redcar and Cleveland was 54, based on the 2.3% target set by the Government.
Fifty-eight employees started an apprenticeship between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. This is equivalent to 2.49% of the total number of employees on 31 March 2020. This means that Redcar and Cleveland exceeded the Government target. Redcar and Cleveland has exceeded the Government target every year since the start of the apprenticeship programme.
Exceeding the target in 2020-21 is an astonishing achievement given the severe challenge to all recruitment from the coronavirus pandemic. It demonstrates the commitment of the Council to providing work and development opportunities, particularly for young people.
Of the fifty-eight employees that started an apprenticeship between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, 42 were new employees. 16 existing employees started higher level apprenticeships.
There were 74 apprentices on 31 March 2021 which is equivalent to 3.14% of the total headcount of employees.
Actions towards meeting the apprenticeship target in the future
- We take our social responsibility seriously and are helping the most vulnerable in our borough. We aim to match a proportion of our apprenticeships to those children in our care and those leaving care.
- We are running a traineeship program for September for eight young people to give them the chance to gain work experience and work towards achieving the Maths and English grades required to complete an apprenticeship.
- We are supporting our Kickstart employees to apply for current Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council vacancies.
- We have no upper age limit to ensure our apprenticeship programme helps to reduce the number of long-term unemployed.
- We work closely with senior management to promote higher level apprenticeships including degree level and above to invest in upskilling our existing employees and to ensure succession planning.
- We are working with maintained schools to offer apprenticeships and have candidates starting their level 3 Teaching Assistant Apprenticeships in September.