May 2021

WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

County council enables 500 apprenticeships in four years

"As the economy starts to re-open, apprenticeships are once again on the rise with plenty of additional support from our Warwickshire Skills Hub team to help boost local opportunities."

New apprenticeship figures show that Warwickshire County Council has enabled more than 500 apprentices to enrol on apprenticeship programmes in four years.

Reaching this milestone demonstrates the County Council’s commitment to creating fantastic career starts for young people entering the world of work, and to supporting existing Council employees to upskill.

In just over four years, the latest count shows the County Council has enabled 506 apprenticeship ‘starts’ – which refers to all apprentices who have enrolled onto an apprenticeship programme with an apprenticeship training provider. It includes newly recruited apprentices, existing employees using an apprenticeship for their professional development, and a mixture of both of those in Warwickshire County Council maintained schools.

Apprenticeship starts since April 2017 in detail:   

105 County Council apprentices recruited.

128 existing County Council employees entered apprenticeships.

273 County Council schools starts.

The Apprenticeship Levy, along with the huge number of newly available apprenticeship standards created in recent years, have enabled the council to offer a range of different apprenticeships in areas such as social care, County Highways, ICT, project management, HR, Fire and Rescue, the Library Service and schools.

As well as career starts, the apprenticeship programme has now grown to offer career progression to professional roles. Higher, or even degree level apprenticeships lead to occupations such as social worker, civil engineer, teacher or manager.

As well as supporting individuals, the County Council is also committed to supporting businesses to create apprenticeship opportunities by covering the full training costs of an apprenticeship. 

In 2019, the Council created a dedicated skills service: The Warwickshire Skills Hub which helps businesses to shape and create apprenticeship opportunities, as well provides funding to SMEs to help them grow their own talent.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council and portfolio holder for economic development, said: “506 apprenticeships is a fantastic milestone to have reached and great news for people in Warwickshire looking to enhance their skills.

"At the County Council we are proud of our excellent retention rate for apprentices and our strong commitment to enabling career starts for young people. This is a particularly welcome achievement, as during the pandemic, apprenticeships sadly declined by over 70% across the region. However, as the economy starts to re-open, apprenticeships are once again on the rise with plenty of additional support from our Warwickshire Skills Hub team to help boost local opportunities.” 

Warwickshire Skills Hub support includes:

To find out more about any of the services or support offered by the Warwickshire Skills Hubs contact the team at: skillshub@warwickshire.gov.uk

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