However the IfA’s operational plan concentrates far too much on how the IfA will involve employers at all levels and on the substantial support for employers that it will offer. The operational plan describes the IfA as an “employer-led regulator”, led by a Board, made up primarily of employers, enshrining the employer-led nature of apprenticeship reforms. Whilst ASCL welcomes the involvement of employer-led bodies in designing content and standards it believes that there is a lack of due regard for the role that colleges will need to play in the delivery of apprenticeships. Colleges have had a long and successful history of working with local and national employers in designing apprenticeship programmes and the operational plan does not seem to show how this relationship will be encouraged to grow and thrive. Failure to properly involve colleges and other training providers in the operational delivery and planning of the apprenticeship programme will seriously reduce the effectiveness of the whole apprenticeship programme.

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