An apprenticeship levy will be imposed from the end of the month to fund training, at a total cost to the council estimated at just short of £50,000 over the next three years.
A report to the council’s policy development panel, which met on Tuesday (May 9), said: “The Apprenticeship Levy is a statutory requirement and as such the council is required to comply, notwithstanding the benefits this scheme will also bring
.
“An Apprenticeship Scheme to enable the council to ‘grow our own’ can provide opportunities for both local people and current employees in order to develop skills and secure employment.”
The council will need to employ six apprentices to comply with the suggested target, the report said.
The funding can be used to support current employees to undertake an apprenticeship, for example an NVQ, or to fund training for a new employee as an apprentice.
At present, the council does not employ any apprentices, though Compass Point Business Services, which provides some of its functions, has nine apprentices, the report said.
Currently one apprenticeship is proposed in the democratic services/legal team and managers more broadly are being encouraged to include apprenticeship posts, it added.
The council is currently working with training providers and professional bodies, to develop an apprentice scheme.
The report said: “Particular areas which will be focussed on include ‘building’ apprenticeships in professions which are traditionally difficult to recruit to, for example, environmental health, planning and building control.”
The council has also committed to the LGA National Graduate Scheme with a year-long placement being offered as part of a ‘gap year’. The local authority is to take on two students, one employed in the corporate improvement team and another in planning.
