CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2024 25 At the time of writing, the UK is a few days away from the General Election, and when this edition of the CPA Bulletin is published, the outcome will be known. Whatever the outcome, skills and training will be an important part of any government’s priorities, particularly with all parties seeing skills, training and education investment as part of the solution to improved UK productivity. From a technical skills perspective the landscape is still slightly fragmented but there is still a focus on apprenticeships, with all parties agreeing that apprenticeship numbers need to be increased over the coming years. Apprenticeship starts (2022/23) increased modestly from the previous year up 2.5% to 200,550. Higher Level Apprenticeships increased significantly from the previous year, up 9.1% to 70,780. The growth in Higher Level Apprenticeships can certainly be explained by the significant expansion of Degree Level Apprenticeships that have been established and developed by Employer Trailblazer groups and The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE). Further information can be found at https://explore-education- statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships In relation to technical skills and training in plant, Apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps remain an important way to recruit new entrants into the industry and upskill the existing workforce. Apprenticeship numbers and Skills Bootcamps will need to expand over the coming years to ensure we have the skilled workforce to meet the demand of major projects including some of the following: • Sizewell C • HS2 (Phase 1) • Lower Thames Crossing • Other major infrastructure transport projects To get a sense of some of the potential skills and education priorities from other parties, Labour have stated they will establish Skills England to support the implementation of their skills and education priorities. They have also indicated a continued commitment to the growth of Apprenticeships, and to support this, and the wider skills agenda, they will introduce a Flexible Growth and Skills Levy to replace the existing Apprenticeship Levy. The expectation is that these funds would support wider training and skills priorities and support the growth of apprenticeship numbers overall. Whatever the outcome of the election, let’s hope the next Government has technical skills and training at the heart of its skills and education agenda. Our sector, like all sectors, needs additional funding, and importantly, more flexibility within existing funding streams to support our skills and employment shortages. All parties have indicated they want to build more houses, improve our transport infrastructure, improve our water infrastructure and build our energy infrastructure. Plant will be at the forefront of all these projects so let’s hope the next Government continues to support and effectively fund the technical skills and education system. SKILLS SKILLS