Agenda item

Report of the Chief People Officer

The Board noted the report of the Chief People Officer, People & HR providing an overview of the advancements made in bolstering apprenticeship opportunities and how the apprenticeship levy is spent within the City of London Corporation.

The Board noted the marked increase in the number of both centrally and levy funded apprenticeships, from 47 in December 2022 to 276 apprenticeships in April 2024, as well as the impressive decrease in the amount of digital levy funds being returned to HMRC dropping from a return of £53,188 in December 2022, to a (zero) return in August 2023 which has been maintained to date.

Referencing the zero return of the levy back to the Government, a Member asked whether any transfer of excess to businesses was in place. The meeting heard that some excess has been transferred in that way to local SMEs and charities.

On the funding (0.5% from the payroll), a Member asked for the value of that funding and the meeting heard that the sum amounted to c. £900K pa and that some apprenticeships are centrally funded, and that the levy is also being used to upskill staff members.

In response to a question on what plans are in place to work more collaboratively with suppliers and other partners, the meeting heard that work is ongoing with external organisations to continuously improve the apprenticeship offering. The Board noted that a small cohort of T level students have been placed at the CoLC though there were challenges due to the fact that the students were not employees which prevented access to some IT systems.

The Board noted the ongoing need for work experience opportunities for students at the CoLAT apprenticeship academy.

A Member asked what the main challenges were for the programme. The meeting heard that (in the case of new apprentices) it had been difficult in the post-Covid era to find new apprentices that wanted to join the CoLC, but that the retention rate is good as is the conversion rate (apprentice to employee).

The Board noted that regular updates on apprenticeships would be provided to include how many new people were taking advantage of the apprenticeship offering.