Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director, Strategy and Resources

Emma Hodgett, Reward and Resourcing Manager and Josie Guynan, Reward and Resourcing Consultant introduced the report to the Committee. During discussion a number of issues were raised and points made:

(a)  several councillors expressed concern that apprentices would receive a salary below the National Living Wage for the first 3 months of their contract, and that this could impact upon the City Council’s reputation, the quality of intake and apprentices’ morale;

(b)  in response, it was explained that the introductory salary level will help the City Council maximise the number of apprentices employed, that a two-stage salary structure for apprentices will be more in line with the recently introduced Authority-wide Pay Model, and that demand for apprenticeship places continues to outstrip supply;

(c)  new apprentices  are not considered fully ‘job ready’ at the outset and receive at least 20% off-the-job training, including tutor visits and self-directed learning. It was also confirmed that new apprentices receive a Travel Pass for use during the first month of their placement;

(d)  the City Council’s apprenticeship retention rate of 78% compared favourably with the performance of similar organisations elsewhere;

(e)  an Additional Support Fund will be administered by the Resourcing and Reward Team. In addition, the Team will provide mentoring support to apprentices and their line management to resolve points at issue;

(f)  it was confirmed that the new arrangements will not be directly applicable to employees of Enviro-Energy or Robin Hood Energy;

(g)  in a majority of cases, those internal candidates taking up apprenticeships will do so within their current role. The minority moving out of their current work area will be treated as secondees, in line with the approach adopted by many public sector organisations;

(h)  a consensus emerged to approve the recommendations in the report with immediate effect. However, in view of several councillors’ reservations, it was agreed that the Committee would consider alternative costed proposals if these were submitted by September 2017.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  pay all new starter Nottingham Apprentices the National Apprenticeship Wage of £3.50 per hour for the first 3 months of their contract;

(2)  automatically uplift new starter Nottingham Apprentices pay to National Minimum Wages for their age from month 4 of their apprenticeship (ranging from £4.05 per hour to £7.05 per hour) and rising to National Living Wage for those aged 25 or over and in a second or subsequent year of their apprenticeship;

(3)  establish an Additional Support Fund of £5,000 to assist apprentices that may experience financial difficulty in their apprenticeship, with cases to be assessed on an individual basis;

(4)  agree an approach for internal apprentices which will allow existing employees to access apprenticeship training, paying internal apprentices a salary based on a grade determined through job evaluation for their apprenticeship post;

(5)  gain a commitment to remain in Nottingham City Council for a minimum of 2 years for the end of their apprenticeship;

(6)  subject to resolutions 1 to 5 above, agree changes to the Apprenticeship Agreement so that this may be used for both entry level and ‘internal’ apprentices in line with the Council’s Apprenticeship Strategy, widening the apprenticeship offer.