There is a mixed picture to date from the Crown Prosecution Service at an admirable 3.3% to the Home Office at 0.6%. The DfE stands at 1.8%. The figures were released in answer to a parliamentary question and show that there is still more work to be done before the government can meet its own target. The public sector apprenticeship target, which came into force in April 2017, requires public bodies with 250 or more employees to have a minimum of 2.3 per cent apprenticeship starts relative to its overall workforce numbers. It’s an average target across the years 2017/18 to 2020/21 to “give flexibility to organisations to manage peaks and troughs in recruitment”, according to the government’s response to the consultation on the target, published January 2017. For more information and comment see here. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister acknowledged that “We do need to ensure that we are seeing the intended outcome of the apprenticeship levy—that is, more opportunities for young people-actually being put into practice.”
