Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the responsibilities planned for the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships could not have been undertaken by the existing UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Nick Boles

The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships (IFA) will be very different to the current role and remit of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).

The IFA must be able to make decisions independently of Ministers and hold direct operational responsibility rather than act in an advisory capacity.

This will require different governance arrangements, with a small Board led primarily by employers and business leaders to steer the processes and decisions that are made.

The IFA will assume functions that Government has so far undertaken in relation to apprenticeship standards and assessment plans and will operate in the context of achieving three million starts by 2020.