People 1st welcomes Richard Review into apprenticeships
Hospitality industry sector skills council People 1st has welcomed the findings of the Richard Review, which was released yesterday as part of the Government's inquiry into apprenticeships in England.
The review, which was carried out by entrepreneur Doug Richard, received employer submissions from across all sectors of the economy, including hospitality.
It offered a series of 10 recommendations that are designed to secure the future of apprenticeships in England.
People 1st worked with 50 employers from across the hospitality industry to develop a submission for the review consultation that took place over the summer.
Ruth Asker-Browne, who led the employer consultation, said that many of the recommendations made in the Richard Review mirror the submission the hospitality industry made.
"The review covers many of the points our industry employers made in the submission, including the importance of apprenticeships having a clearly defined identity and clear career pathways for staff," she said.
"Employers also said that providing government funding to support vocational training other than apprenticeships would be more than welcome, as this is currently tied so closely to apprenticeships that many organisations feel compelled to take this route.
"Given these points strongly reflect what our employers need, we are now asking other employers work with us to help address the ongoing skills shortages the hospitality industry faces. We are working with employers and helping them to submit a bid to the Employer Ownership Fund (EOF), which provides them with direct funding to develop training programmes, especially apprenticeships."
Despite welcoming the recommendations, Asker-Browne said People 1st would await the Government's decision on how the other recommendations will be implemented.
"The recommendation that apprenticeships should only be offered for new job roles will no doubt cause some concern, although the interpretation and implementation of this will make a big difference," she said.
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By Neil Gerrard
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