FDF Apprenticeship Pledge
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) announced a pledge to treble the apprenticeship workforce in the food and drink industry by 2020.
Announced at FDF's President's Reception 2015, the new pledge will see the total
apprenticeship workforce in the sector increase from 1% to 3%. The target
builds on an existing pledge to increase the number of
higher-level apprenticeships by 20% by 2020 and other sector-wide initiatives
to
address a looming skills shortage.
Why have we launched this pledge?
Our sector is currently relying on an ageing workforce to support growth and we
must secure a sufficient pipeline of young people that could potentially be
engineers, team leaders or managers for the future. Apprenticeships are also an
important tool to 'grow our own' as we seek to become less reliant on migrant
workers.
FDF's ambition will highlight the importance of Apprenticeships as a fantastic
way of attracting talent and upskilling existing employees for the future, as
well as bringing many benefits to businesses including increased productivity,
improved competitiveness and a motivated workforce.
The industry is building on previous successes where apprenticeship numbers
quadrupled in an 18 month period from 1,710 to 7,535 in England and Scotland by the
end of 2012.
Apprenticeship Levy
In August 2015 Government announced its commitment to support 3 million
apprenticeships by 2020. As part of this pledge Government announced the introduction of
an apprenticeship levy to help fund their ambition. It represents a seismic
change in the landscape of skills and for the business and public sector employers
it brings both risk and opportunity
The apprenticeship levy will come into effect on 6 April 2017 and will apply to
employers who have a pay bill above £3million. The Apprenticeship Levy is an
important opportunity to help the food and drink manufacturing sector grow high
quality apprenticeship numbers.
The Government has published an employer guide on how the Apprenticeship Levy
will work.
Apprenticeship Trailblazers
What are Apprenticeship Trailblazers?
In 2013 the Government launched the Trailblazers initiative whereby
apprenticeships are designed by employers to ensure that apprenticeships produce people who
are fully competent and who meet clearly defined standards set by employers
rather than by training providers.
A range of Trailblazers are underway in the food and drink industry. All are
being led by groups of experienced representatives from food and drink businesses
with the majority supported by the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink. You can follow the progress of each Trailblazer project here.
A new Trailblazer apprenticeship standard for Food Engineering & Maintenance has already been approved by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
(BIS) after being set by an industry group supported by the National Skills
Academy for Food and Drink.
This is now being followed by Trailblazer apprenticeship standards for roles
including:
- Production Processing Manager
- Skilled Technical Operative
- Food Science Technologist
- Technical Manager
- Automated Plant Baker
- Retail Baker
- Artisan/Craft Baker
- Advice for employers wanting to take an apprentices
- What are the benefits to employers in taking on Apprentices?
If any members would like to be involved please contact caroline.keohane@fdf.org.uk for more information.
Advice for employers wanting to take on Apprentices
- Contact the National Skills Academy for food and drink (NSA) on 0845 644 0558 where your enquiry will be recorded including details such as
company size; sub-sector e.g. meat, chilled, confectionery; and how many
apprenticeships you wish to offer etc.
- Your enquiry will be forwarded onto a trained NSA skills consultant who will
visit you in person to discuss the options available to you e.g. delivery
in-house
or through an external training provider.
- Based on an assessment of your business' needs, the NSA will then approach
training providers on your behalf and source the right one for you.
- Take a look at the Government's Apprenticeship campaign 'Get In Go Far' for support for apprentices and employers.
What are the benefits to employers in taking on Apprentices?
Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes
specifically tailored to meet the skills needs of employers. By FDF working in
partnership
with the National Skills Academy for food and drink and the National
Apprenticeship Service, you can benefit from:
- reduced administrative burden as you are supported through the process of
developing and implementing an apprenticeship programme;
- optimised levy investment ensuring you have the ability to maximise your investment through the
apprenticeship levy on high-quality apprenticeship standards;
- developing high-quality apprenticeship standards that meet the needs of the food and drink manufacturing sector;
- high quality training providers that have been hand-picked to meet your needs;
- central measurement undertaken which will provide us with credibility as we celebrate our success
and launch a PR campaign.
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Last reviewed: 21 Jun 2016