Ben Holgate looks at what Government’s commitment is likely to mean in workplace

Construction, logistics and high-tech industries are expected to be key areas of growth for apprenticeships in Oxfordshire as the Conservative Government proceeds with its ambitious plan to create an additional three million new apprenticeships over the next five years.

The Government highlighted apprenticeships as a major policy initiative in the Queen’s Speech last month, stressing the target number is in addition to the two million UK apprenticeships created in the previous parliament.

Adrian Lockwood, chairman of the Oxfordshire Skills Board, said: “The biggest area [for apprenticeships] in Oxfordshire will be construction because we’re heading into a big infrastructure phase.”

Building projects such as the £440m Westgate Shopping Centre redevelopment, which may generate up to 3,500 jobs, and residential developments in Bicester will increase demand for skilled workers.

Adam Marsh, managing director of ACE Training, which trains apprentices in the construction sector and is located near Kidlington, said about 100,000 jobs could be generated by building activity in Oxfordshire over the next few years.

He said the number of apprentices at ACE Training (which he did not disclose) had increased by 30 per cent over the past year.

He added a shortage in skilled labour in the local construction industry had led to a sharp rise in day rates. He added: “You’re probably looking at a 20 per cent increase in the last six to nine months, which is significant.”

Mr Lockwood, who started his working life as an electro-mechanical fitter apprentice and is now managing director of Integration Technology, said logistics was another area of high growth for the county. As businesses expand, they need to move around greater amounts of goods.

Other sectors that are expected to stimulate demand for apprentices in the county include high-tech industries such as space technology, automotive and digital technology, as well as hospitality, food and retail, which are boosted by tourism.

Mr Lockwood said the country’s “biggest challenge” was to fill “high-level technical” jobs. About three in every five workers in Oxfordshire are highly skilled, which puts added pressure on finding skilled workers for advanced manufacturing industries.

Oxfordshire’s labour market is so tight that enticing local people to take up apprenticeships is difficult. The proportion of the county’s population claiming unemployment benefits was a low 0.6 per cent in April 2015, significantly less that the UK average of 1.9 per cent.

Mr Lockwood said Oxfordshire’s 6,000-odd school leavers a year was the “richest source” for apprentices. He criticised the previous Coalition government for axing a loan system for apprentices aged 24 years old and above in 2014. The Oxfordshire Skills Board said this was a key factor in the number of new apprenticeship starts in the county falling by 18 per cent year-on-year to 3,740 in the 2013/14 academic year, according to the board’s report, Oxfordshire Labour Market Information, which was published in February 2015.

“I deplore the total reduction of the adult skills budget,” said Mr Lockwood. “You’re going to have to look beyond young people. There are some very good older people who can retrain.”

Nigel Tipple, chief executive of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “We’ve got a large cohort of young people who are 16 to 18. Not everybody wants to do their A-levels or go to university.”

Mr Tipple, who began working as a horticultural and aboricultural apprentice, encouraged school leavers to look at gaining qualifications through an apprenticeship scheme. He said: “What we can do is capitalise on our young people coming through.”

While a typical apprenticeship lasts three to four years, others can last up to six years and lead to a qualification equivalent to a university degree.

Sarah Cullimore, Oxfordshire County Council skills funding and commissioning manager, said a small number of apprenticeships offered degree status in areas such as engineering and business administration.

She said that Oxfordshire Apprenticeships, which was set up by the Oxfordshire Skills Board and Oxfordshire LEP to promote apprenticeships in the county a year ago, was targeting small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to stimulate training. SMEs account for 97 per cent of businesses in the county. “The government can’t create apprenticeships, only employers can,” she said.