Food and drink apprenticeship model is 'collapsing'

FDQ director Derek Williams said that despite the “hype”​ surrounding apprenticeships, in which the government sees food as a priority, the past two years had seen "between a 30% and 35% drop in the take-up of apprenticeships".

Williams put this down to apprenticeships being “provider driven”,​ while providers were being starved of cash. “It’s largely a free service for employers and with providers having economic difficulties in respect of government funding, they are not providing that service,”​ he said.

‘Drying up’ ​

As a result, the apprenticeship training supply side is “drying up”​, he said. “Therefore employers will not do it if there is nobody knocking on their front door.”​

Unless the problem was resolved, Williams predicted the UK food and drink industry would continue to rely on skilled workers from other EU Members States and elsewhere to meet its needs.

“The whole apprenticeship model at the moment is collapsing in food and drink,”​ claimed Williams.

Not addressing encouraging employers​

“The Trailblazer initiative is all well and proper as it is part of the government policy for a new​ [apprenticeship] framework, but what we are not addressing is the actual delivery, capability – and capacity and encouraging employers to take apprentices.”​

Williams predicted a further decline in numbers of food and drink apprenticeships “against all the government and other agency rhetoric saying that apprenticeships are on the increase”.​

“I am seriously concerned that the continuing decline will reach a point so low that it will be difficult to recover sufficient credible numbers for apprenticeships to be recognised as a valued pathway into work in the industry.”​

Meanwhile, read how the campaign to save​ the food A-level is hotting up.