SMEs in line for share of £360m through apprenticeship framework
A new Crown Commercial Service framework will help government train the next generation of civil servants.
Government is expected to invest more than £360m in developing the next generation of public servants, through a new Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework.
And small and medium-sized enterprises will have the chance to benefit from the move, signing up to provide training and recruitment expertise to government through the Apprenticeship Training and Related Services agreement.
38% of the successful suppliers are SMEs - 6 out of 16 appointed to the framework.
Peter Lawson, Strategic Category Director, People Pillar at CCS said:
This agreement supports the government to train the next generation of public servants, who will eventually be responsible for delivering efficient, effective services that meet the needs of citizens.
The framework is split into 12 specialisms, making it easier for SME providers to win places in their own field of expertise.
How it will work
Public sector bodies with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million per year are required to invest 0.5% of their total staffing cost into apprenticeship opportunities. This means that most public bodies are now required to have some kind of apprenticeship programme.
Employers will access the funds through a Digital Apprenticeship Account (DAA) controlled by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
On average, the prices public bodies will pay are 22% below the upper limits on apprenticeship charges set by the ESFA. This will deliver annual savings of up to £8 million.
The new CCS framework will help organisations to set up their own programmes without having to do multiple, lengthy procurement exercises to access ESFA-registered training providers.
Lotting structure
The framework has been divided into twelve lots covering different apprenticeship disciplines.
Each lot is then subdivided into those through which civil service customers can make direct awards, and those through which all public sector customers can direct award or conduct further competitions.
- Lot 1(a) & (b): Leadership and Management Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 2(a) & (b): Project Management Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 3(a) & (b): Operational Delivery Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 4(a) & (b): Human Resources Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 5(a) & (b): Finance and Tax Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 6(a) & (b): Higher Level Digital Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 7(a) & (b): Digital Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 8(a) & (b): Customer Service Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 9(a) & (b) Commercial Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 10(a) & (b): Higher Level Leadership and Management Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 11(a) & (b): Business and Administration Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
- Lot 12(b): Property Apprenticeship Training and Related Services
CCS worked in collaboration with Civil Service Learning (CSL) to create a framework agreement with selected ESFA-registered apprenticeship training providers.
For more information, visit the Apprenticeship Training and Related Services webpages.