Meetings

NDM5142 Nick Ramsay (Monmouth)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the report of the Enterprise and Business Committee on the inquiry into Apprenticeships in Wales, which was laid in the Table Office on 25 October 2012.

Note: The response by the Welsh Government was laid on 16 January 2013.

Supporting documents:

Enterprise and Business Committee’s Report

Welsh Government’s response

The item started at 14.30

NDM5142 Nick Ramsay (Monmouth)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the report of the Enterprise and Business Committee on the inquiry into Apprenticeships in Wales, which was laid in the Table Office on 25 October 2012.

Note: The response by the Welsh Government was laid on 16 January 2013.

The motion was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Members agreed the report subject to a few minor amendments.

Briefing from the National Assembly’s Outreach Team.

The National Assembly’s Outreach Team presented the Committee with a briefing on Apprenticeships in Wales.

CollegesWales

Greg Walker - Deputy Chief Executive, CollegesWales

Barry Liles - Principal and Chief Executive, Coleg Sir Gâr

Dafydd Evans – Principal, Coleg Menai

4.1 The Chair welcomed Greg Walker - CollegesWales, Barry Liles - Coleg Sir Gâr and Dafydd Evans - Coleg Menai. Members questioned the witnesses.

National Training Federation for Wales

Arwyn Watkins – Chief Executive Officer of NTfW 
Andrew Dodge Regional Advocate South East Wales NTfW
Rachel Searle Regional Advocate South Wales NTfW

Andrew Cooksley - Managing Director ACT
Helena Williams - Corporate Development Director - (Learning & Development) Acorn

3.1 The Chair welcomed Arwyn Watkins, Chief Executive Officer of NTfW, Andrew Cooksley, Managing Director ACT and Helena Williams, Corporate Development Director Acorn. Members questioned the witnesses.

Action Point

NTfW agreed to provide the Committee with the monitoring information on how they measure the success of their programme.

Federation of Small Businesses Wales

Iestyn Davies – Head of External Affairs

Joshua Miles – Policy Advisor

3.1 The Chair welcomed Iestyn Davies and Joshua Miles from the Federation of Small Businesses Wales. Members questioned the witnesses.

Action Point

·         Federation of Small Businesses agreed to provide the Committee with any figures on the proportion of Apprenticeships that go on to secure full time work after completion of their Apprenticeships. 

e-skills UK

Peter Sishton - Manager for Wales

Mel Welch - Pathways Manager

Care Council for Wales

Roberta Hayes - Director of Learning and Development

Jacky Drysdale - FE Learning Supply Manager

Energy & Utility Skills (Cymru)  

Aled Davies – Energy and Utility Skills’ Wales Manager

Helen White - Apprenticeship Manager

The Chair welcomed Peter Sishton, Mel Welch from e-skills UK, Roberta Hayes, Jacky Drysdale from Care Council for Wales and Aled Davies, Helen White from Energy & Utility Skills Cymru. Members questioned the witnesses.

Action Point

·         e-skills agreed to provide information on the number of companies that are sponsoring high-level apprenticeships (e.g. Level 3).

Careers Wales

Trina Neilson - Chief Executive

Shirley Rogers - Regional Director

2.1 The Chair welcomed Trina Neilson and Shirley Rogers from Careers Wales. Members questioned the witnesses.

Action Points

Careers Wales agreed to;

·         provide the number of Apprenticeships they have advertised over the years and the routes within which they were placed

·         provide the number of Apprenticeship placements across Wales as a percentage of the vacancies that have been notified to them

·         provide the statistics of where young people aged 16, 17, 18 go, on a Wales county by county basis.

Youth Cymru

Helen Mary Jones, Chief Executive

5.1 The Chair welcomed Helen Mary Jones from Youth Cymru. Members questioned the witness.

Helen Mary Jones agreed to carry out similar focus groups in North Wales and pass on the information to the Committee as additional evidence.

Vale of Glamorgan Council

Allan Williams, Training & Development Manager

4.1 The Chair welcomed Allan Williams from the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Members questioned the witness.

Kronospan

Mike McKenna, Chairman of Kronospan

Elliott White, Apprentice – Instrumentation Technician

Airbus

Gary Griffiths, Head of Apprenticeships, Airbus in the UK

Richard Wilkins, Apprentice of the Year, Airbus in the UK

3.1 The Chair welcomed Mike McKenna and Elliott White from Kronospan and Gary Griffiths and Richard Wilkins from Airbus. Members questioned the witnesses.