Paul Maynard taskforce – BIS and DWP response to recommendations
Published 11 July 2016
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The government is committed to reaching 3 million new apprenticeship starts by 2020 and halving the disability employment gap.
Although participation rates for disabled apprentices have improved recently and more disabled people are employed than ever before, there is still work to be done in both areas. Employment rates for people with learning disabilities hover around 6.8% and the lifelong costs of economic activity are considerable.
As a result, in May 2016 a taskforce was commissioned by the Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, and the Minister for Skills, Nick Boles MP, to explore access to apprenticeships for those with learning disabilities. Improving access to apprenticeships will allow more people with learning disabilities to benefit from the opportunities available through apprenticeships and work.
Paul Maynard MP was asked to chair the taskforce, given his interest and expertise in this area. He invited disability organisations, learning providers, employers, parliamentarians and senior officials from both BIS and DWP to join the taskforce.
The taskforce met 3 times to:
- reach an understanding of the issues and barriers that affect people with learning disabilities in accessing and completing an apprenticeship
- identify solutions that could help overcome these barriers and raise participation levels
- make recommendations to both Ministers on which options to pursue
Prior to the first meeting, stakeholder groups were asked to contribute briefings to allow members to have access to as much evidence as possible. The taskforce also noted the work led by Peter Little OBE in 2012, ‘Creating an Inclusive Apprenticeship Offer’.
BIS and DWP response to recommendations
The Minister for Skills and the Minister for Disabled People have accepted all of the taskforce’s recommendations.
Officials from both departments are now working to implement the recommendations, recognising that some will be more difficult to put into practice than others, and that all recommendations should be completed alongside existing priorities to ensure a cohesive result.
It is anticipated that recommendation 4 will be completed quickly. The taskforce also emphasised the importance of recommendation 1, so this will be prioritised alongside related recommendations 5, 10, 11 and 14.
Another priority relates to English and maths (recommendations 2, 3 and 13). These will be started later in July, and worked on over the summer. As the taskforce acknowledge, it is important that the adjusted English and maths requirement is available to apprentices who can demonstrate a need for it. We will work with stakeholders to define a fair and robust way to do this.
Recommendations 6, 7, 8 and 12 will be carried out during autumn 2016. The defined pilot (recommendation 9) will be developed alongside the new funding model and implemented once it is in place, from April 2017.