Addressing skills shortages and ensuring the creation of a sustainable workforce is key to the new Labour government's mission to drive economic growth.
We look at what was in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's recent announcement on meeting the country's skills needs and what this means for apprenticeships.
Sweeping changes to skills training delivery in England have been unveiled by the new Labour government.
These measures are designed to overhaul the current system and will redefine and reform how apprenticeship training is shaped and funded.
Integral to the government's mission to grow the economy is Skills England - a new body designed to 'bring together the fractured skills landscape and create a shared national ambition to boost the nation's skills.'
Launching the Skills England Bill, the Prime Minister said: "Our skills system is in a mess, which is why we are transforming our approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades. They will help to deliver our number one mission as a government, to kickstart economic growth, by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent.
From construction to IT, healthcare to engineering, our success as a country depends on delivering highly skilled workforces for the long-term. Skills England will put in place the framework needed to achieve that goal while reducing our reliance on workers from overseas."
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said that in order to achieve growth, the country needed to harness the talents of its people and break down barriers to opportunity.
She added: "The skills system we inherited is fragmented and broken. Employers want to invest in their workers but for too long have been held back from accessing the training they need.
"Skills England will jumpstart young people's careers and galvanise local economies. It will bring businesses together with trade unions, mayors, universities, colleges and training providers to give us a complete picture of skills gaps nationwide, boost growth in all corners of the country and give people the opportunity to get on in life."
The new body will also change how apprenticeship training is shaped, with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education's (IfATE) functions to be transferred to Skills England.
This move sits alongside work to simplify and devolve adult education budgets to Mayoral Combined Authorities so they can address their adult skills needs directly and support growth in their areas.
Skills England will identify the training for which the growth and skills levy will be accessible - an important reform says the government which will give businesses more flexibility to spend levy funds on training for the skills they need.
It will be rolled out in phases over the next nine to 12 months with IfATE continuing its work in the interim.
Skills England will be responsible for maintaining a list of levy-eligible training to ensure value for money and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with the identified skills' needs. The government will also bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education to break down barriers to opportunity, support the development of a skilled workforce, and drive economic growth through their industrial strategy.
Latest figures from Gov.UK show that apprenticeships are still popular. Figures for the 2023/2024 academic year so far show apprenticeship starts at 278,590, are up by 1.1% on the 275,630 reported in the same period last year.
Of these starts, young people aged under 19 accounted for 25.1% of the total.
Advanced apprenticeships, at 119,900 accounted for 43% of starts while higher apprenticeships, at 100,490 accounted for 36.1% of starts.
The number of starts supported by the Apprenticeship Service Account (ASA) levy funds stood at 66.6% or 185,450. Latest statistics also revealed that learner participation fell by 2.3% to 687,770 compared to 703,670 last year.