SummitSkills, the sector skills council for the building services engineering sector, is urging the Government to remember the needs of employers of SMEs and micro-businesses following its response to the review of apprenticeships by Doug Richard, published last week.
In addition to publishing its response to The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Next Steps from the Richard Review, the Government started a formal consultation on its plans to 'redefine apprenticeships'. Plans include outcome-focused apprenticeships, an end-of-apprenticeship 'holistic' test and all apprentices working towards a Level 2 qualification in English and maths if they have not already achieved this.

The Government also wants an apprenticeship for each skilled job and is looking to put employer-defined industry standards at the heart of apprenticeships.

Chief executive of SummitSkills, Keith Marshall OBE, said: 'As the sector skills council representing the building services engineering sector, we support many of Doug Richard's recommendations. In the sectors with a long tradition of apprenticeships like ours, much of what Richard recommends is already in place, delivering the quality apprenticeships that our workforce needs. These have evolved over time, responding to employer needs, to a point where they are respected and valued in the sector.

He continued: 'We are also pleased to see the Government recognising in its own response that one size does not fit all. In sectors dominated by big companies and large supply chains it is easier to identify the needs of those employers by working directly with them, as the Government proposes. However, a different approach is needed in a sector with tens of thousands of small traders and micro-businesses, such as the plumbing, electrotechnical, heating and ventilating and refrigeration and air conditioning industries.

'We need to ensure that we capture the needs of these businesses too, and in particular reconsider the value of organisations representing those employers in such sectors.

'We look forward to working with Government to help put meat on the bones of these proposals and make sure that in future apprenticeships continue to reflect the needs of all sizes of employers, and evolve to recognise the changing circumstances of the sector.'

The Government's consultation runs until May 22 and can be accessed via the BIS website at http://bit.ly/Yqmbiw or responses can be emailed to apprenticeships.consultation@bis.gsi.gov.uk