It’s very timely that the 1000th edition of Countdown should occur when a new government white paper for the sector is imminent. This has prompted us to reflect about the 20 years which those 1000 editions have covered and what lessons should be learned to avoid making mistakes for the future. We should bear in mind of course that while some of us have been around throughout this period, ministers change almost every other year and civil servants regularly move on; the current ones may not

The news that the economy bounced back by 15% in the period from July to September after the first lockdown will have no doubt come as a major comfort in the corridors of Whitehall. This ray of sunshine was obviously felt too by AELP members who engage with thousands of battling employers every day. But we are now in another lockdown and media reports suggest that we will return to a regional tier system of restrictions in December. Coupled with the fact that this week’s jobs figures show you

As we head into lockdown, a call from the minister Gillian Keegan on Sunday night with no officials present was certainly unusual but clearly demonstrates that AELP’s voice and influence is being heard in the highest circles of government. As I said in my note to members earlier this week, I took the opportunity to outline to her the issues that remain important to the sector at this time, including of course resolving the problems surrounding the assessment of functional skills which is

When too many important issues still get placed by government in the ‘provider whinge/vested interests’ folder before action is taken (the latest on functional skills testing being a good example when it is the prospects of the apprentices themselves that are suffering), it is always reassuring to hear first-hand from employers that they share similar concerns to us on skills and employment matters. This week we had one of one regular large employer meetings, chaired by Sharon Blyfield of

Every two years we go out to all our members with a comprehensive survey to find out what you think of the services we offer, and to help us plan ahead. The 2020 survey was originally scheduled for April but not unsurprisingly the pandemic put paid to that plan, but we are pleased to say that it is now finally open for your comments! The results of this survey will feed directly into the Senior Management Team and AELP Board, and directly influence what we do and how we do it, so a few minutes

Jane is taking a break, so the baton has passed to me to write the Countdown introduction this week. On Wednesday the government announced the not entirely surprising news that it is pulling its three-year planned Spending Review that was due this Autumn and the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have decided to conduct a one-year interim Spending Review deal instead, setting department's resource and capital budgets for 2021-22. It's frustrating that we have again failed to get a longer-term

Soon after the start of the lockdown, the skills minister Gillian Keegan became very excited about the findings of an AELP Covid-impact survey which found that an extraordinary 81% of apprentices were still actively learning after providers executed an almost overnight switch to online learning and assessment resources – so excited in fact that for her, it was like the work based learning sector was not facing any major delivery challenges. This achievement by providers was indeed remarkable a

Resolving the centre assessed grades issue for functional skills testing is proving to be a tough nut to crack. The government feels that the lack of remote or ‘at home’ testing is a matter for the awarding organisations and independent training providers to sort out while tens of thousands of apprentices are stuck waiting and not progressing. It was pointed out to me that the issue isn’t a concern for colleges. Well, firstly if you take subcontracted delivery into account, only 3 out of 10