Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) which provided an overview of the current number and make-up of apprentices at the Council and at Coventry schools that work with the Apprenticeships and Early Careers team. The report also provided an update on the progress made regarding the Apprenticeship Levy spend across the Council.

The Apprenticeships and Early Careers team is responsible for managing the council’s apprenticeship scheme and delivering the actions set out in the Council’s Apprenticeship Strategy 2016-19.

The team engages with managers across services to identify posts suitable for placing apprentices and providing support with recruitment, identifying and sourcing apprenticeship training along with providing advice and guidance to managers and apprentices to ensure the quality of apprenticeship placements.

This service is also available to Coventry schools who wish to participate and currently the team were working with 28 schools.

The Levy is paid at 0.5% of the pay bill minus a Levy allowance of £5k for each tax year. The Levy is collected monthly by HMRC via the PAYE system and converted into digital vouchers accessed via the digital apprenticeship service account. Levy funding can only be spent on apprenticeship training.

The yearly cost of the Levy to the City Council is in the region of £1m which is made up of approximately £600K from the corporate wage bill and £400k from maintained schools. The government would top this up by a further 10%, making the total amount of funding available to circa £1.1m.

As of 22^nd January 2019 there were currently 120 apprentices in post and of these, 10 are Looked after Children (LAC), this being the highest number appointed by the Council. Of the 120 apprenticeships, 38 are appointed by the Council and 82 by schools. The report provided further breakdown by vocational areas and as well as levels.

The report provided information on the level of levy spend and the procurements that were being undertaken for a number of apprenticeship standards.  It was noted that the portfolio of Apprenticeship training was expanding in line with any as new standards that were being released.

The Cabinet Member suggested that efforts should be concentrated on those area where the agency spend is high as there was clearly a need there. He commented that there needed to be a programme that promotes the opportunities available at the Council. Furthermore, events should be held in Council buildings, providing young people with an opportunity to get a feel for a real working environment.  Senior officers and elected members could also get involved.

The Cabinet Member enquired whether officers had investigated the possibility of providing help and advice to private firms and organisations to utilise their apprenticeship Levy which in the long term would prove to be beneficial to both parties as well creating more opportunities for apprenticeships.

Following consideration of the report and discussions at the meeting, Members requested that a briefing note showing a breakdown of apprentices by male/female to be emailed to them. 

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance and Resources:

1.  Notes the progress made in utilising the Apprenticeship Levy for the benefit of new recruits, existing staff members and the City Council.

2.  Requests that a report be submitted to the first Cabinet Member meeting in the New Municipal Year outlining how the Council can help other companies utilise their Apprenticeship Levy.