Chamber comment on apprenticeship proposals

A leading business organisation has welcomed proposed changes to apprenticeships in the UK but has warned that the ‘devil could be in the detail’.

The Government has published an implementation plan which followed last year’s Richard Review that suggested employers should be ‘empowered’ when it comes to apprenticeships.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the idea in principle but says small businesses should not be hit with further red tape.

Chief executive Louise Bennett said: “Businesses do need to have a greater say in how apprenticeships work and it is a positive step that the Government is looking at changes very seriously.

“But the devil will be very much in the detail and we know from experience that for smaller businesses, especially, they will not want to suddenly be bogged down in the bureaucracy of administering a new Government scheme.

“That must certainly be taken into account before the final proposals are announced.”