Government launches helpline for apprentices who have lost their job - AoC responds

Responding to the announcement of the new Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices (ReSSA) Chief Executive, David Hughes said: “The support for apprentices made redundant and the incentives to employers to take on new apprentices are welcome moves from the Government. Unsurprisingly, new apprenticeship starts are at all-time low, whilst there are legitimate fears about the number of furloughed apprentices at risk of redundancy. These steps are important, with colleges central to helping make them work as well as feed back what other measures might be needed in the autumn. Supporting apprentices made redundant needs to include advice on getting them back into work as well helping them complete the apprenticeship or another qualification. Many will have invested many months of their time and energy on studying whilst learning at work and it’s important they reap the benefits of that at a time of great stress. As well as these measures we would like to see more support to colleges and providers to be able to maintain their capacity to deliver the off the job training in sectors of the economy which are vital to the recovery - health, social care, construction, digital. Without further support, colleges will be making redundancies themselves this summer and autumn of skilled and experienced trainers and teachers who will be needed when the economy picks up and employers are crying out for skilled people. We must not lose the capacity in the apprenticeship programme in the short term which will be vital in the longer term.”