How Moving Apprenticeships to the DWP Could Transform Youth Employment – if we get it Right

The Government’s recent announcement that Skills England and apprenticeships will move from the Department for Education (DfE) to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reflects the reality that a substantial proportion of apprenticeships are already delivered outside traditional Further Education. It also reflects the reality that the biggest factor in expanding the programme is employer engagement and enthusiasm for it. Yet, as with all changes to the machinery of government, the risks require careful management.

The Hidden Cost of Reorganisation

Having worked within the DfE for more than a decade, I’ve witnessed firsthand the labour intensity of such seemingly simple announcements. When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, he declared that the DfE should oversee all youth-related policy. This triggered a year of bureaucratic upheaval within the civil service, as policy areas were transferred from departments like the Home Office to the DfE. The initiative lasted only a few years before being reorganised again.

What struck me was how this bureaucracy occupied civil servants’ minds – we can’t deliver the business because we’re in the midst of a reorganisation. The lesson is that seemingly simple ministerial statements can unleash months of administrative complexity, creating substantial costs. Given this reality, we must ensure the latest announcement delivers genuine outcomes rather than becoming another expensive distraction.

The Positives? Clear Opportunities for Change

Of course, this move offers unique opportunities to improve apprenticeship delivery. First, it’s a chance to properly embed apprenticeships in the DNA of the labour market. With the number of young people not in education, employment or training trending upwards, we must acknowledge that apprenticeships are real jobs. If the DWP, which constantly engages with employers, can bring apprenticeships – especially for 16-19-year-olds – deeper into the labour market, this would be extremely positive.

Having leadership continuity is also a good thing. Retaining Jacqui Smith in her ministerial role means there is someone at the helm with hard-earned knowledge and experience. Having worked with her myself on 14-19 Diplomas back in the day, I can vouch for her integrity and commitment. I hope this change provides her with greater authority to advance the skills agenda.

Finally, skills policy has long been fragmented across DfE, Department for Business, DWP, and DCMS. Although we haven’t yet found coherent ways to drive shared outcomes, this is another opportunity for better join up.

Learning from Past Restructures and Policy Changes

Making the best of this new setup will require careful investigation of past interventions, which have moved us closer to, or further away from, a coherent skills system. Joint departmental working has been a challenge for 30 years, but there are examples to draw upon.

Edge is currently researching tertiary education and how stronger coordination between Higher and Further Education could support the system. Upcoming additions to our Learning from the Past series will examine past institutions, some of which – the Learning and Skills Council, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, and Manpower Services Commission – promoted closer interdepartmental working. Each offers valuable lessons, not least that reorganising bureaucracy alone won’t drive change. That requires something fundamentally different.

However, if there is a willingness to create systems that embed collaborative culture, shared responsibility isn’t an impossible dream. One example is the Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets from the Blair and Brown years. While not perfect, these created incentives for departments to work together on shared outcomes led by a single senior civil servant as responsible officer. They showed promise before being shelved. But they demonstrate that solutions do exist.

Is it Time for Chief Skills Advisers?

Effective cross-departmental collaboration also means having authoritative voices advocating for skills. One solution could be to build on the success of Chief Scientific Advisers, whose value we all witnessed during the pandemic. While such advisors have no statutory footing, this is key to their soft power. The government could quickly establish a similar network of Chief Skills Advisers without legislative hurdles, while departments can tailor how they use them based on specific skills priorities.

Such a network could reframe skills discussions as positive collaboration rather than adversarial interdepartmental battles where skills gaps become a blame game. A Chief Skills Adviser across every department – networked through Skills England – could also bypass limitations in how Skills England can challenge other departments on their training investments.

Whether or not such an idea will be implemented remains to be seen. But however it is tackled, there is a genuine opportunity here to align skills more closely with youth employment, focusing levy funding on supporting young people into work. The question isn’t whether this reorganisation will be disruptive – it certainly will be. It’s whether we’ll use that disruption to create a tangibly better skills system or if this will just end up becoming another expensive experiment. Let’s hope not!

By Olly Newton, Executive Director, Edge Foundation