For the past 25 years, the FDQ has administered apprenticeship end-point assessments for the food and drink industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Working alongside industry experts and consultants, it awards qualifications to trainees within the bakery, butchery, brewing and fishmongery categories, among others.
Fennell became CEO in November 2016, just prior to the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017. The levy, which is only paid by firms with an annual payroll above £3 million, has had a significant impact on the food and drink industry Fennell has argued, transforming how larger firms view apprenticeships and their value.
“Prior to the levy being introduced apprenticeships were viewed with a little bit of scepticism, because in many cases taking on an apprentice was considered time consuming and going to impact on productivity,” he told Food Manufacture.
“When you take people off the production lines so they can train, it can reduce volumes and make deadlines harder to meet. As a result, apprenticeships were seen as a bit of a nuisance.”
However, once the levy came into effect, firms that weren’t utilising apprentices where simply seeing that money going out of the business with no benefit attached. In response, firms across all sectors quickly realised that they would be better off trying to get some value for the levy they were paying and according to Fennell, this proved a real positive for the industry.
“Since 2017 the larger levy paying businesses have become a lot more connected with the apprenticeship scheme and understand the funding system much better,” he explained.
“They are more demanding of the training providers that they work with and have really embraced the programme.”
Fennell believes that the food and drink industry has been particularly engaged with the apprenticeship programme.
“Food and drink firms have embraced the levy and really started to use apprenticeships as a recruitment tool and a way to tackle skills shortages in their business,” he added.
“This was only accelerated because of Brexit and Covid, because both these events made recruiting more difficult.”
With employers less able to rely on EU labour than they were prior to Brexit, firms have put more effort into recruitment with many introducing careers advice strategies. According to Fennell, many more food and drink businesses are visiting schools, colleges and local careers events than ever before, because they understand the need to show the benefits of getting a job in the sector and the pathway to a career it can offer.
Beyond the levy
While the levy has impacted how larger employers interact with the apprenticeship system, other schemes have made it easier for SMEs to get involved. The government will fund all the apprenticeship training costs for SMEs with less than 50 employees who employ an under 18 and in the case of butchers this can be worth up to £10,000. In addition, employers can receive a further £1,000, paid in two equal instalments through your training provider to assist with employment costs.
“The UK Government contracts approved training providers on behalf of the employer, while the training provider will also make regular visits to the workplace to assess the apprentice’s progress,” Fennell said.
“Previously employees had to pay a 5% contribution, but the government no longer requires this of smaller employers. Meanwhile, employers that take on an apprentice under the age of 24 do not have to cover their national insurance.”
In order to access these benefits, employers must provide the apprentice with a full contract of employment, which does not include a zero-hours contract. They also must set aside 20% of the apprentice’s weekly hours for training, although this can be accounted for in different ways both in and sometimes out of the workplace at a local college for example.
Further changes have been made in recent months, with the government dropping the requirement for apprentice applicants over the age of 19 to have passed Level 1 or 2 English and maths at GCSE level, although whilst not mandatory apprentices can still commit to studying these subjects alongside their apprenticeship.
“Unfortunately, the English and Maths requirement was difficult and off putting for some apprentices not enamoured by the thought of back to the classroom study,” Fennell said.
“Many weren’t comfortable doing this and as a result Government became concerned by rising dropout rates.”
According to Fennell, the change received some pushback from within the Department for Education but it was introduced in February, nonetheless.
“I think the food and drink sector where craft skills are often the primary requirement of the job has been hampered by that English and maths requirement for several years ,” he continued.
“The requirement has put people off from applying for a food and drink related apprenticeship and I know from speaking to training providers and colleges that this is a potential another game changer for the food sector.
“Funding will still be available for people that want to study towards it, with an extra pot available on top of the government funding set aside for in-work training.”
Another recent change that Fennell believes will have a positive impact on the take up of food and drink apprenticeship is the reduction of the minimum duration from 12 to eight months from August this year.
“This is particularly good news for older applicants who may have been working in the sector for several years and may not need 12 months to pass their apprenticeship,” he said.
“If people can have their knowledge and skills recognised as prior learning it can fast track their training and prove their competence, they can go on to earning higher wages earlier and start progressing.”
With these changes, Fennell has noticed employers developing more detailed strategies and thinking more than ever about how the apprenticeship programme can help them recruit young and talented people.
“Short termism is no longer an option because recruiting EU workers in the same quantities is no longer an option,” he explained.
Beyond these changes, Fennell explained that the government is working on a new skills and growth levy, which is expected to be overseen and implemented via the new Skills England agency from 1 April.
This will ultimately replace the current apprenticeship levy in the sense that larger employers will be able to use a proportion of their levy on non-apprenticeship provision.
“The government has said It can be used on upskilling or reskilling employees and this flexibility is highly desirable for firms,” Fennell said.
“The levy could even be used on food skills or mental wellbeing courses, first aid training or management training. I will be fascinated to see how things continue to evolve.”
