The Apprenticeship Levy - another "New Coke"

In 1985 the Coca Cola Company reformulated its 100 year old recipe for Coke and launched it as “New Coke”.  Consumers did not like it and not only didn’t buy it but they mounted vociferous and very public campaigns to bring back the original Coke”.  Sales plummeted whilst the adverse PR became a raging and uncontrollable forest fire.  After 77 days Coca Cola recognised they had got it horribly wrong and reintroduced the original Coke.  “We learned that the consumer, not the company, owned Coca Cola and our other brands” said the Chief Exec.

In April 2017 the UK government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy with a target of 3m starting apprenticeships by 2020.  In the first quarter after its introduction the number of people signing up for vocational training dropped by 60% year on year.  Figures due out shortly are expected to show a further plunge of almost a third for the three months to February.  Of 19,150 companies paying into the levy only 11,900 have registered to claim it back.  The levy has been criticised for being too complex and inflexible for companies to engage with it, so they are not.

So my latest “Deep Thort” is:

After a lot more than 77 days should the government have now recognised that perhaps “it’s the employers and apprentices that OWN the apprenticeship system, not the government”?  Not according to Anne Milton apprenticeships and skills minister.  “Our reforms have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships are and the long-term opportunities they can provide.  The apprenticeship levy is a really important part of our changes to raise the quality of apprenticeships in this country”.  Oh dear, she has clearly never heard of “New Coke”. 

http://www.z-to-a.com/

http://www.teamofequals.co.uk/

http://www.changeworld.co.uk/