This presentation primarily focuses on the Health and Social Care sector. Information about the apprenticeship reform; including the apprenticeship levy, new apprenticeship standards, and end point assessments.

1. The changing landscape for funding
apprenticeships and training
With a focus on the Health and Social Care Sector

2. A focus on Apprenticeships has been a major priority for the
Government in its drive to improve skills and general economic
prosperity!
To support this there's been a change to how things are funded,
the way training is delivered and more importantly who has
overall control!

3. The good news is the employers are firmly in
the driving seat
Changes include Apprenticeship Levy, New
Apprenticeships Standards and End Point
Assessments amongst others
But we’re not going to cover it all today; so I will
be focusing more on the funding side of things

4. Safaraz Ali (Saf)
Founder & Head of The Pathway Group
• CEO of Pathway Group – a National Workforce Solutions
Provider based in Birmingham and working with a cross
section of businesses including health and social care
employers on managing their apprenticeship
programmes, training provision and outcomes
• In addition I have been involved with the care sector as a
domiciliary care provider for the last 10 years and
presently have over 600 staff and our business will be an
Apprenticeship Levy payer
Connect with me:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/safaraz
twitter: @SafarazAli

5. Apprenticeships
To start off with some general
myth busting!!

6. All Apprentices do blue collar jobs?
Top 5 Apprenticeship subject areas
31%
5%
18%
28%
18%
Business, Administration and Law
Construction, Planning and the Built Environment
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies
Health, Public Services and Care
Retail and Commercial Enterprise
346,850 out of 384,500 Apprenticeships
Apprenticeship Programme Starts by Sector Subject Area, Level
and Age (2002/03 to 2015/16 - Reported to Date)
August – April 2015/16

7. Apprenticeship are for unqualified or unemployed young people?
Programme starts by age
28%
31%
41%
16-18
19-24
24+
The Majority of Apprentices are
Actually aged 24+ and already in
Employment
2005/06 to 2015/16 - Reported to Date
August – April 2015/16

8. Myth: Mostly delivered by colleges?
Training
Provider
76%
Colleges
24%
Training Providers Colleges
• More than 3 out of 4
apprenticeships (76%) are
delivered by independent
training providers
• It is independent training
providers who have been driving
the apprenticeship agenda.
However, it as been bit of a love
hate relationship with employers

9. Lets talk about some of the changes

10. Transition and Reason for Change
Training
Provider control
• Training Provider funded for delivery of Qualifications
• Training provider in control of funds
• Limited employer input
Employer
control
• Employers have more control over content of Qualifications
• Employer has control over funds and how they are spent
• Levy Payer employers pay 0.5% tax of their payroll with a 10% top-up by
government
• Non-Levy Payer employers contribute 10% in cash direct to the training provider
10

11. Employer
(Care Provider)
Training Provider
• Require responsive and flexible solution
which minimises disruption
• Quality and stability from provider
• Improved communication
• Training to keep up-to-date with
developments in the sector
• Provide access to learners which includes
keeping appointments for learning and
releasing staff to attend training
• To take an interest in their staff
development and training
• Feedback on the impact of learning
Lets look at the Customer Supplier
Relationship

12. Shop Talk
What's the industry taking about?
The employer now has a legal and contractual obligation for the
training because they are no longer in the passenger seat and
have additional controls and responsibilities this leads to
obligations as well.
– Any breach could lead employers having to pay funds back for
training delivered on their behalf
Cash contribution: The employer now either pays into the Levy
system or a 10% contribution to the training provider. This has to
be a cash and not in kind
– Previously there was an expectation of an employer contribution. However,
there has been never a requirement to enforce this

13. Shop Talk
What's the industry taking about?
Requirement for 20% of training time which needs to be off the job
training
This was always an expectation but now this is mandatory and needs to be recorded
and is auditable
The training needs to be a proportion of the working hours and not just a proportion of
the training undertaken
– i.e. for an apprentice working 5 days a week this would mean they must undertake
off the job training at least for 1 day
– In addition if there is any requirement for English and Maths this would be on top of
the above
– We estimate there is time cost to the employer of over £3,000 just based on national
minimum wage

14. Other issues and concerns
End Point Assessments - many standards don’t have End
Point Assessment organisations yet so there is some
uncertainty around what and how End Point Assessment will
take place
How do you ensure quality of the chosen provider?
– Out of all the listed RoATP providers of which there are 1303, 717
which is 55% of them have not previously had a direct contract
relationship with the Skills Funding Agency for Apprenticeships

15. Apprenticeships are not the only game in
town
What else is there?

16. Advanced Learner Loans
This funding here is learner led and not the employer
Advanced learner loans are available for individuals aged 19 or above to
undertake approved qualifications at Levels 3 to Level 6
Advanced learner loans are paid directly to the college or training
organisation on behalf of an individual learner
It’s not means tested or subject to any credit checks and anyone who
meets the criteria will be able to apply
This funding stream is increasing year on year and still very much
underutilised

17. Traineeships
Traineeships are aimed at young people with a focus on
progression to employment and includes
– Work experience placement with an employer, lasting from six weeks
to five months experience
– Classroom based training, which will include employability support as
well vocational training and English and Maths
This is an expanding area of funding and most accredited
providers have struggled to deliver on this particular contract

18. ESF Skills Support
Last year more that £440 Million was allocated across a number of LEP Areas
Organisations that have been successful have until July 2018 to spend this
funding
This involves delivery of shorter more employer friendly qualifications as well as
non–regulated courses
Within the allocation there is also funding for dealing with the unemployed
This is a great opportunity for care providers to find out who was successful in
their area and approach them for any training needs

19. Workforce Development Fund (WDF)
Funding disbursed by Skills for Care. It is a limited pot of money to support the
training of staff across adult social care in England.
Over 400 units are eligible for funding and WDF pays a contribution of £15 per
QCF credit, with a maximum of 60 credits per learner per funding year.
Examples of what could be claimed:
– Level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) (46 credits) - up to £690
– Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (58 credits) - up to £870
– Level 2 Award in Supporting Individuals with Learning Disabilities (12 credits) – up to £180
Visit www.skillsforcare.org.uk/wdf for further information. However current
applications are closed for this year although its worth keeping an eye out for
further opportunities

20. Cash out of your pocket!!
This may sound the most obvious but it at times is the most
cost effective and flexible option
You can be either work out a solution on your own or a
training provider to streamline a training solution that is
specific and tailored to your needs.
This bespoke training could include E-learning and the use of
mobile applications and shorter bite size programmes.

21. Going back to Apprenticeships
What are the Opportunities for Employers?

22. Register of Apprenticeship Training
Providers (RoATP)
Three Routes Available
Main provider
Employer provider and
Supporting provider
The RoATP is now open until the 7th April for submissions

23. Main Provider Route
From 1 May 2017, main providers are able to:
Deliver apprenticeship training to employers that will use the
apprenticeship
Deliver apprenticeship training to their own apprentices, or apprentices
of their connected companies
Deliver apprenticeship training as a subcontractor
They were also able to tender for up to £5 Million of funding to delver
training to non-Levy payers

24. Employer Provider Route
From 1 May 2017, employer providers are able to:
Deliver apprenticeship training to your own apprentices, or apprentices of your connected
companies’, if you will use the apprenticeship service to pay for apprenticeship training
– This includes delivering apprenticeship training as a subcontractor your own apprentices or apprentices of
your connected companies’.
This type of direct delivery to your staff will put you totally in the driving seat. However, it
does come at a cost in terms of diverting you away from your main area of business
You will be directly inspected by Ofsted and will be responsible for contract compliance
dealing with the awarding bodies, arranging End Point Assessment and ensuring the
overall quality of delivery
Even established large providers have at times failed to maintain the standards required
and negative Inspection report will be published and may reflect on your main business
activity.

25. Supporting Provider Route
From 1 May 2017, supporting providers are able to:
Support main providers and employer providers with delivery
of their training needs
There able to enter into subcontracting arrangements that
total up to £500,000 per year

26. So….
What if you don’t fancy becoming
a training provider!!

27. Choosing a Provider
You will be committing to a business relationship lasting at least
12 months and more likely around 3 years on average
Therefore like any other business transaction there needs to be a
focus on due diligence. Do not rely on the providers being listed
on the government register as a sign of competence or quality
Due diligence can include:
– Performing a credit check using a site such as Creditsafe, checking
Companies House and Directors background checks
– Ask for performance data and proof, including success rates and timely
success rates (how many learners achieved their qualification within the
timeframe of the apprenticeships)

28. Choosing a Provider continued…
Ask how will they would deliver the qualification including staff details wherever
possible, ask for awarding body reports including any external quality and
inspection reports
Ask for references from current employers however more importantly aim to
access the “Employer and Learner Voice” - this gives you the views of both
learners and employers and is usually available for all training providers with a
track record
https://learnerview.ofsted.gov.uk/results
https://employerview.ofsted.gov.uk/results
In addition having a look at their social media presence particularly LinkedIn to
get a feel for their team isn’t a bad idea and usually gives you a feel for the
organisation as well

29. Even though there has been at times a
turbulent relationship between
employers and training providers I
believe that training providers do add
value (he would say that wouldn’t he)
Using a training provider allows the employer to focus on
what they do best which is their core business
Improved organisational efficiency
Better control training costs
Access to expertise.

30. An employer view (quote 1)
“The amount of calls and emails I get is crazy! I just don’t get
the desperation and its always about free training. I'm all about
training and developing my staff but this level of frantic activity
can’t be good for anyone.”
(Care Provider with 60 employees)

31. Another employer view (quote 2)
“We've been working with a number of colleges and training providers for
10 years now and these range from fairly new providers to colleges with
good to outstanding Ofsted grades. The reality on the ground is, the
service is p*** poor, it’s inconsistent, inflexible and in most cases they can
get away with it; purely for the fact that we don’t pay their bills; at least not
directly.
We have no financial control/leverage which is what we have with all our
other suppliers, we can refuse, delay and negotiate payments.
Frankly, we’re looking forward to becoming an employer provider ourselves
and managing the training providers through us – lets wait and see!”
(SME business with 320 Employees )

32. Conclusion
The landscape for funding apprenticeships and training is
changing at a fundamental level, this brings uncertainty and
risks, it also provides new opportunities
With employers being in the driving seat they will have more
choice not only with better bargaining and procurement but
more options including managing their own delivery

33. Any Questions?
Thank you for your time
and sorry to have killed you via death by PowerPoint
Connect with Safaraz (Saf) via:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/safaraz
@SafarazAli