Ministers have emphasised the importance of on-the-job training and work placements to tackle youth unemployment – but is the civil service doing its bit? Ben Willis finds shaky support for apprenticeships.

Last week, prime minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg used the coalition’s first birthday to set out plans to tackle youth unemployment. Speaking in front of apprentices working on the Olympic site, they restated the government’s commitment to supporting on-the-job training schemes and work placements – in-keeping with longstanding departmental commitments to support public objectives by providing internships and apprenticeships.

However, while internships across Whitehall will soon be revamped as part of the government’s attempt to lead by example in the area of work placements, an informal survey carried out by Civil Service Worldsuggests that departments are not as supportive of apprenticeship schemes as they once were.

When the coalition first came to power, it invested £150m in creating an additional 50,000 apprenticeship places in 2010-11. It also announced new funding both in the spending review and the 2011 Budget, and claims these resource increases will create 250,000 more apprenticeship places over the next four years than had been planned by the previous administration.

Of course, these placements weren’t aimed directly at the civil service, but there is a general policy that the civil service should recruit apprentices where possible. “Ministers are keen that the civil service should be an exemplar in offering apprenticeships, in line with the priority attached to them within national skills policy,” says a spokesman for the business department, which leads on apprenticeships.

Nonetheless, the government has rowed back from mandating participation, abolishing the targets for departmental apprentices introduced by Labour – and the number of civil service places appears to be in decline. In 2008-2009, the 16 departments that signed up to take part in the Government Skills National Apprenticeship Pathfinder offered 1,400 apprentice places – substantially more than the target 500. According to figures published by the now defunct sector skills body Government Skills, there were nearly 3,000 civil service apprenticeships in 2009-10.

However, in 2011-12 – in spite of the increase in funding – the numbers of civil service apprenticeships seem set to fall well below those levels. An informal survey by Civil Service World of the 16 main spending departments revealed that nine have firm plans for apprenticeships over the coming year – with the vast majority being recruited by the MoD. The research identified about 1,300 places planned for 2011-12, compared to nearly 3,000 undertaken in 2009-10. The transport and justice departments – large organisations that could provide a lot of places – have yet to confirm their plans.

Three departments said they have not yet set firm plans yet, while a further four said they’re not making plans to hire apprentices this year: we’ve published their responses in the table to the right. Among those with no plans at all, the communities department explained that it is not offering any formal schemes due to its ongoing redundancy programme, while the culture department said there is a lack of suitable roles this year (it has previously offered five places).

Meanwhile, a Treasury spokesperson said that the nature of the department’s work “means that apprenticeship opportunities are limited”, and noted that the department does offer paid internships – including year-long sandwich placements for undergraduates, and summer placements through the government-wide internship programmes.

A number of other departments also indicated that they are planning to support the government’s upcoming internship programme, announced as part of the deputy PM’s social mobility strategy last month.

This strategy sets out to ensure that everyone in the UK has an equal opportunity to succeed in life, regardless of their background. In support of this aim, a Whitehall Internship Programme will offer young people from ethnic minority groups and disadvantaged backgrounds work experience opportunities.

The internship programme has two new strands. One, aimed at college students aged 16-17, will offer two-week placements in Whitehall departments. The second will be a day-long programme, during which secondary school children of 13-14 years will meet senior Whitehall figures and learn more about the civil service. The two new programmes will be piloted over the summer and, if successful, will be run alongside the established fast-stream summer diversity internship aimed at undergraduates and graduates.

The Whitehall Internship Programme replaces the informal system of civil service internships, which has been criticised as accessed largely by those with the right contacts in political parties or the civil service. To ensure transparency, guidance is being drafted for departments on how to run internships, a Cabinet Office spokesperson said, and will be circulated in due course. From 2012, all departments will be expected to advertise internship schemes on a central website.

Last week’s youth unemployment document said that government will “lead by example” in the area of internships; but for apprenticeships, it set out a more arm’s-length role. Rather than leading by example, it said, government will “promote employer-led expansion” – in an approach that fits with the coalition’s desire to minimise government action in favour of activity by external partners.

It remains to be seen whether this approach will prove successful in the long term; though the document also said that “early in-year provisional data” shows that the target of creating 50,000 more adult apprenticeship places than the previous administration planned in 2010–11 has already been met.

With targets removed and money tight, it looks as if departments are cutting apprenticeship places even while the business world increases their numbers. And according to an evaluation of civil service apprenticeships carried out by consultancy Experian last year, they will be missing out on a real opportunity: the study identified strong business benefits, including a more skilled, flexible and productive workforce, with staff that are generally more committed and motivated, and lower rates of staff ‘churn’. The government will be hoping that this evidence of the value of apprenticeships will be sufficient to ensure that civil service HR managers will – perhaps after a drop in apprentice numbers this year – come back for another influx of young trainees soon.

Written by Ben Willis