Clause 1
4:45 pm
Siôn Simon (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills; Birmingham, Erdington, Labour)
I shall start with the three scenarios set out by the hon. Member for Bristol, West. I think that I know the answer in each case: all three are in the Bill, but I have to confess that I cannot remember off the top of my head exactly which bit refers to exactly which bit. However, I am sure that someone can look that up afterwards, if the hon. Gentleman is interested.
I shall describe the exceptional circumstance in which it is assumed that unwaged people could be apprentices. Let us say that an apprentice approaching the end of their apprenticeship, loses the employment—the employer cannot sustain it any longer—and they cannot find, despite the vacancy matching service and everyone’s best efforts, another employed form in which they can continue it, but they can find voluntary work that enables them to do similar work and complete that apprenticeship, but not for reward. It is envisaged that that would be counted. [Interruption.] I am now told that that is in clause 1(6)(b).
With regard to someone who is self-employed, again the opportunity is in the Bill, in clause 1(6)(a), but it is envisaged that the power for self-employed apprenticeships would be used only in very exceptional circumstances, as I believe is currently the case in, for instance, the film industry, in which the conventional industry practice is that although people might work for someone in a conventional apprenticeship-type way, their employment status is freelance. The hon. Gentleman’s third scenario, of switching employer, is in clause 30(4). We envisage that as a much more mainstream part of what should be possible under the new structures, because it is the kind of thing that happens all the time. We want it to be the case that within the same framework, an apprentice can change employer during the apprenticeship, transfer over and complete the apprenticeship.