A director from Poole-based Chartered Building Company Greendale was among the first to give evidence to the Demos/CITB commission on apprenticeships yesterday, pointing out that its decision to train apprentices was based on its faith in the future rather than the financial incentives available.
Greendale’s HR and finance director Maria Seabright was invited to give evidence to the commission at the Houses of Parliament yesterday after being named runner-up in the CITB’s Personality of the Year award.
Seabright and others were quizzed about the potential impact of the Richard Review reforms, which would see government cash for apprentice training directed to employers, rather than FE colleges or “middlemen” such as the CITB.
Seabright told CM: “I talked about the grant money received versus how much it costs to train a person, and I explained that we don’t train because of the grants available – it helps but we train for the future of the industry. There is a massive shortfall in grants received to what it actually costs putting someone through a two-to-three year apprenticeship.
“I explained that we don’t train because of the grants available – it helps but we train for the future of the industry.”
Maria Seabright, Greendale
“I talked about the current challenges of engaging an apprentice – some companies are unsure of the future and that’s why they are not doing it. I talked about having the right mentor which is proving to be hard as we have an ageing workforce within the industry.” Other industry employers giving evidence were Sharon Gorf, director of Brighton-based joinery contractor Parker and Highland, and Julian Weightman, chairman of SME housebuilder Border Craft Group and a representative of the FMB, who apparently told the commission that the Richard reforms would “cost him extra time he doesn’t have”.
The experts sitting on the commission were Conservative Robert Halfon MP, the government’s ambassador for apprentices; Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman; Steve Hindley, chief executive of Midas group and chair of the CBI Construction Council.
Also hearing the evidence were Steve Radley, policy director of CITB; Dr Hilary Steedman, a senior research fellow at the London School of Economics; and Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City & Guilds.
Chancellor George Osborne was also due to be present for part of the session, but sent his apologies.
Seabright added: “They asked how effective the training was in my area and I spoke about my involvement with the local colleges and schools, and I said how important it was for young people to gain site experience as being away from a classroom is totally different.
“I talked for a whole hour and to be truthful it was quite daunting but I do feel that I got my message across and that they were listening & taking on board what I was saying.”
For more background on the Commission’s work, please see our previous story here.
