9. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the UK Government's apprenticeships levy on the finances of local authorities? OQ57928

The apprenticeship levy was imposed on local authorities by the UK Government. Welsh Ministers were not consulted, and the UK Government did not consider its impact or the consequences on the devolution settlement. 

Thank you for the answer, Minister. I would like to see apprenticeship programmes being used to fill the current gaps in local authority recruitment. Councils are struggling to fill positions such as highway officers, planners and drainage experts. These are technical positions that require training and expertise as well as a strong knowledge of the local area. However, the apprenticeship levy brought in by the Tory UK Government in 2017 is a financial barrier and has a disproportionate affect in Wales and the public sector here. Around 700 employers in Wales pay the 0.5 per cent levy, including all public sector employers, the NHS, local government and the police. Despite the additional financial burden the levy places on Welsh public sector employers, there is no noticeable additional funding available in Wales as a result of the levy. For instance, Flintshire County Council—I must declare I'm still a Flintshire councillor for a week—will incur an additional cost of £617,840 this year. What representations has the Minister made to the UK Government about the financial impact of the apprenticeship levy on the public sector here in Wales? Thank you.

We did make strong representations to the UK Government at the time when the UK Government was considering introducing the levy, making that point that it does essentially represent an additional tax burden for the public sector here in Wales, and effectively it reduces the funding available to them to fulfil their duties. As the revenues from the levy have replaced existing apprenticeship funding in England, the levy doesn't actually provide any new significant money for us here in Wales. That was absolutely a smoke and mirrors job on the part of the UK Government.

That said, it doesn't mean that we're not very much committed to apprenticeships. The economy Minister has made some announcements in regard to our commitment for those all-age apprenticeships, which will be really important. I share the concerns, really, around the specialisms that some local authorities are really struggling with. I had a really good meeting with the leader of the WLGA and others just a couple of days ago, looking particularly in that instance at the challenges around the statutory inspection services, environmental health, and so on. These are skills that we've really, really relied on throughout the course of the pandemic, yet they are still in short supply, and things that we need to be exploring how we develop in future. I've got the same conversations going on around procurement—public procurement is another area where we need to be investing in the skills of people for the future, and particularly trying to ensure that we get them into our public services and keep them when they're there. I think that there are areas of particular pressure in regard to the skills that local authorities have, but I just want to reassure colleagues that it is something that we're working with local government on to seek to address.

Thank you, Minister.