The first Party Conferences after this year’s general election were an opportunity for both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party to publicly reset. Education policy, and particularly skills and apprenticeships, remained high on the political agenda, signalling the continued value placed on the sector to drive economic growth.  

This was the second year of the Skills Hub at both conferences, in collaboration with Future Skills Coalition, of which The St Martin’s Group is a programme partner. This was an opportunity to bring together key sector stakeholders with vital decision-makers, both inside and outside government, and to champion the importance of skills and apprenticeships.

The St Martin’s Group held a panel at each conference, on what policies are needed to meet the growing demand for apprenticeships, in support of our recent report.

Labour Party Conference

The first Labour Party Conference after being elected to government for the first time since 2010 was a key moment for the Party.  

The Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, delivered a speech which set out his desire for a ‘decade of national renewal’, in which he focused on working people and the ambition for public sector reform and higher economic growth.

Starmer made a significant announcement on overhauling apprenticeships to support the growth of opportunity, with the formal announcement of the manifesto pledge to replace the apprenticeship levy with the growth and skills levy including several reforms to apprenticeships.

One of the key announcements was the introduction of new foundation apprenticeships, which will be designed to widen employment for young people and ‘eradicate economy inactivity amongst young people’. The Prime Minister also announced the levy would fund shorter apprenticeships, facilitating greater flexibility for employers to shorten the apprenticeships they will provide. This will mean employers will not have to run 12-month programmes. However, it will be Skills England, the new arms-length body established by the Government, that decides to which sectors this reform will apply. Another key announcement was regarding changes to funding for Level 7 apprenticeships. The Government will move some level 7 apprenticeships outside of the scope of the growth and skills levy. This was justified by the Department for Education as these higher-level apprenticeships are often master’s degree level and are therefore, often accessed by older workers, or individuals who are already highly qualified.

During his speech, the Prime Minister also made skills reform a central part of his pitch on the economy, setting a new direction for the sector. Starmer said the Labour Government would focus primarily on those who had been most impacted by the pandemic, and he pledged to build new Technical Excellence Colleges to train the next generation of workers.

Conservative Party Conference

The Conservative Party’s first conference in opposition since 2009 was primarily focused on the Party’s leadership contest, with hopefuls laying out their vision and values. Whilst this was in the foreground, there were numerous Fringe events that facilitated discussions between policymakers, employers and those working in apprenticeships and skills.

The former Apprenticeships and Skills Minister, Robert Halfon, advocated for more engagement with apprenticeship organisations in schools to broaden opportunities for students and help them understand the variety of career paths available.

SMG at Conference

At both conferences The St Martin’s Group hosted its own fringe events titled, ‘Stimulating opportunity: what we need to meet the growing demand for apprenticeships’.

At Labour Party Conference, we brought together Andrew Pakes, the MP for Peterborough and Chair of the APPG for Apprenticeships; David Gallagher, the CEO of the awarding organisation, NCFE; James Kelly, the CEO of training provider Corndel; Naomi Clayton, the Director of Policy and Research at the Learning & Work Institute; and Paul Gerrard, Campaigns, Public Affairs and Board Secretariat Director at the Co-Op.

Meanwhile, at Conservative Party Conference, we hosted Jenny Taylor, the Early Professional Programme Lead from The St Martin’s Group member IBM; Philip Le Feuvre, the Chief Operating Officer of NCFE; and Alex Stevenson, Deputy Director at The Learning & Work Institute.

Both panels were opportunities to facilitate conversations about how to stimulate the supply of apprenticeships and meet the growing demand. Our report, published in September 2024, which utilised discussions with 65 organisations across a range of industries, calls for maintaining an inclusive, all-age, all-level system that is quality-focused, and employer-led, as well as recommendations that will transform parts of the system to create more opportunity. These recommendations include supporting Skills England to improve cohesion across the system, protecting the apprenticeship budget, reforming the system at low-cost by introducing greater flexibilities for apprenticeship providers, reviewing the financial measures that may impact apprenticeship take-up and prioritising additional funding that will support SMEs to deliver more apprenticeships.