Meeting documents

To consider Item 15

The Lead Member for Human Resources and Equality and Diversity advised Members that there were two main strands contained within this report. The first strand was asking Members to adopt an apprenticeship scheme for various support services and service delivery roles including that of firefighter, the second was the creation of an apprenticeship sponsorship scheme to support the service with its on call duty system.

The apprentices would be employed by an apprentice training agency partner rather than the Authority which was important to bear in mind from a risk management perspective.

Anyone on the Authority’s apprenticeship scheme would have achieved a qualification at the end of it, which would improve their opportunities for future employment, either with or outside the Authority.

The Director of People and Organisation Development advised Members that the apprenticeship scheme linked back to the Authority’s medium term workforce plan. The Authority had an ageing workforce and would need to replenish those skills and would also need new skills if it was going to diversify.

The HR Project Manager advised Members that the Authority had a high retirement profile in the operational workforce over the next five years. The Authority can predict those that are due to retire and go into their normal pension arrangements, but what is more difficult to predict is staff leaving the service prior to their predicted retirement dates and the apprenticeship scheme would help mitigate this.

(Councillor Marland joined the meeting)

The Committee was informed that the Enterprise Minister had made a statement on 14 June 2015 to reinforce the government’s ambition to create 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. As part of this, all public authorities would be set targets for recruiting apprentices within their workforces. These targets would be set in the autumn and the Authority would not know its targets until then.

The Committee was informed that it was envisaged that the Authority would be taking on 10 fire apprentices a year for the next 3 financial years and a number of support service apprentices and it was hoped that the Authority should be able to address the targets once known; and that the procurement team was already looking at various training providers around the country as part of the procurement process. Proximity to the Authority area was something that would be taken into account. It was planned to hold a supplier day in September for all short listed training providers and the preferred provider would be chosen then.

It was explained that an apprenticeship does not automatically guarantee employment with the Authority. If at the end of the apprenticeship an individual was offered a contract, it would not be a traditional contract, but one that had been drawn up over the period of the apprenticeship scheme; and that another option for the Authority was that if someone was good and an attractive prospect long term (but there was not a place on the establishment for them at that time) they could be offered up for secondment for a number of years to another fire and rescue service. At that point they would be employed by the Authority but they would go and work for the other fire and rescue service and then bring back their valuable experience to the Authority when needed.

With regard to collaboration, Members were told that Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service had expressed interest in this scheme, but they need to recruit firefighters much quicker than this process would allow and were recruiting wholetime firefighters in the next few weeks.

A Member asked if the Authority was using an Apprentice Training Agency would the Authority get the credit from the government for the apprentices, or would the training agency. Officers undertook to seek clarity on that point. The Director of People and Organisational Development and the HR Project Manager would look at a range of different contracts (beyond the grey book terms and conditions) for the new apprentices.

RESOLVED –

1.            That an organisational wide apprenticeship scheme which forms part of the resourcing process linking to the workforce plan is approved.

2.            That the pursuit of partnership arrangements with external training providers is approved.

3.            That the Authority creates and promotes an Apprentice Sponsorship Scheme to support the on-call duty system, local businesses and young people in the community who are not in education, employment or training (NEETS).