Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme Wales Framework Agreement

Tender description

The purpose of the Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme (“ACP”) is to support people in Wales through high quality learning, in order to provide employers with the relevant skilled people to meet the current and future needs of the Welsh economy. Apprenticeships offer employed learners the opportunity to pursue a Foundation Apprenticeship, Apprenticeship, or Higher Apprenticeship framework. Degree Apprenticeships are excluded from this procurement. Each framework specifies the learning activities, including, qualifications covering occupational competencies, the relevant technical knowledge, Essential Skills Wales and Employment Rights and Responsibilities (ERR). The Client is committed to aligning the ACP to the needs of the Welsh economy as outlined in its policy and action plan published in February 2017 - Aligning the Apprenticeship model to the needs of the Welsh economy 2017. The focus is on aligning and raising the level of the skills market designed to meet employer needs with a system that is responsive to industry changes, particularly in the sectors that drive growth and prosperity. The policy reflects the step change towards higher level technical and professional skills, promoting efficiency and portability within our priority sectors. The Welsh Government is of the view that the option to extend the framework beyond four years is likely to be desirable. Individual participants may be on a vocational Apprenticeship programme for up to four years. In the event the maximum term of the framework mirrors the maximum duration of a vocational Apprenticeship programme, this is likely to result in many apprentices having their learning disrupted as they may be obliged to transfer from an unsuccessful legacy provider to a successful bidder when a future replacement framework is procured. The purpose of the Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme (“ACP”) is to support people in Wales through high quality learning, in order to provide employers with the relevant skilled people to meet the current and future needs of the Welsh economy. Apprenticeships offer employed learners the opportunity to pursue a Foundation Apprenticeship, Apprenticeship, or Higher Apprenticeship framework. Degree Apprenticeships are excluded from this procurement. Each framework specifies the learning activities, including, qualifications covering occupational competencies, the relevant technical knowledge, Essential Skills Wales and Employment Rights and Responsibilities (ERR). The Client is committed to aligning the ACP to the needs of the Welsh economy as outlined in its policy and action plan published in February 2017 - Aligning the Apprenticeship model to the needs of the Welsh economy 2017. The focus is on aligning and raising the level of the skills market designed to meet employer needs with a system that is responsive to industry changes, particularly in the sectors that drive growth and prosperity. The policy reflects the step change towards higher level technical and professional skills, promoting efficiency and portability within our priority sectors. The Welsh Government is of the view that the option to extend the framework beyond four years is likely to be desirable. Individual participants may be on a vocational Apprenticeship programme for up to four years. In the event the maximum term of the framework mirrors the maximum duration of a vocational Apprenticeship programme, this is likely to result in many apprentices having their learning disrupted as they may be obliged to transfer from an unsuccessful legacy provider to a successful bidder when a future replacement framework is procured. Lot 1: Whilst we are slowly emerging from the impact of COVID-19 there is a recognised economic need to support individuals into education, employment or training during the current financial year. The Welsh Government are extending the Apprenticeship Employer Incentive Scheme to 31 March 2022 and extending the EIS for disabled apprentices until 31 March 2023, and we are also increasing the financial incentive from GBP 1,500 to GBP 2,000 from 1 April 2022. We believe there is a need for targeted support to address employer concerns over employing a disabled person. We have achieved a year-on-year increase in apprenticeship starts but our expectation was that these increases would be reversed during the COVID pandemic. However, the introduction of the Employer Incentive Payment for disabled people has been a significant factor to maintaining this increase in disabled apprenticeship starts, which have grown to over 9%. Whilst the labour market is now improving it is expected that following the pandemic numbers of disabled people seeking employment will rise and we therefore need to continue to offer EIS support to employers in order to help them continue to provide opportunities for disabled apprentices. We will strictly monitor the uptake of the programme. We will also reserve the right to suspend AEIS payments if it appears that demand is at risk of exceeding the available budget. The AEIS payment supports the commitment to continue developing a culture where recruiting an apprentice becomes the norm for employers in addition to recognising the need to make apprenticeships a credible alternative to the academic route for young people. In recognition of the administrative burden placed on lead providers in managing the Apprentice Employer Incentive payment process and collating relevant evidence to support payments, we will award providers an administration fee for each learner recruited under this incentive programme. This fee is set at GBP 100 (inclusive of VAT) per learner and will be payable in full once the learner has been employed for 4 weeks. Further details of payments available to employers in relation to the Apprentice Employer Incentive can be found here: https://businesswales.gov.wales/skillsgateway/skills-and-training-programmes/apprenticeships/funding-available