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Oil incidents in England 1990 to 2016
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Apprenticeships : new standards
“ THE APPRENTICESHIP REFORMS IN ENGLAND * ARE DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE PEOPLE TO FOLLOW A WORK-BASED ROUTE INTO A CAREER ,” WRITES JENNY CLUCAS , COGENT SKILLS
An apprenticeship is a genuine job with a programme of accompanying skills , knowledge development and assessment that lasts a minimum of 12 months and involves at least 20 % off-thejob training .
In the reforms , employers are now leading on quality and funding through the Institute of Apprenticeships – www . instituteforapprenticeships . org – and setting the standards .
The new Apprenticeship Standards set out , for a specific occupation , the core skills , knowledge and behaviours an apprentice will need , and include the end-point assessment the apprentice will need to pass to gain their apprenticeship .
Employer groups known as trailblazers are developing both elements , with standards to replace frameworks .
Introduced in April 2017 , the apprenticeship levy is payable by UK employers with a £ 3m + paybill . Levy paying employers can access this levy tax to buy apprenticeship training and endpoint assessment .
The government provides an extra 10 % top up for levy payers ; and for non-levy employers there is a new ‘ co-investment ’ rate whereby non-levy paying employers pay 10 % towards training costs with government paying the rest .
The new Standards span level 2 through to degree / post-graduate apprenticeships , allowing for the recruitment of talent at higher / degree levels and progression routes where suites of Standards are being developed .
Apprenticeship-based training can also be used for upskilling or re-skilling your existing workforce with no age restrictions . Where staff need significant new knowledge and skills , they can now take apprenticeships at the same or lower level as a qualification already held .
Cogent Skills is supporting industry through membership of the Science Industry Partnership , and particularly the newly established SIP Process Industries Forum , focusing on high hazard site skills including engineering apprenticeships , process safety and competence management . Cogent can also provide comprehensive apprenticeship support from recruitment through to an Apprenticeship Training Agency ( ATA ), which acts as the apprentice ’ s employer and places them with a host employer .
* Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland will receive a share of the levy – £ 460 million . As skills is a devolved matter , each is responsible for how levy funds are used
Oil incidents – ensuring a downward trend
Cogent can provide comprehensive apprenticeship support says Jenny Clucas
Is your company looking to create more apprenticeships in 2018 ? Fuel Oil News would be pleased to hear about your experiences – jane @ fueloilnews . co . uk .
Chris Wood , CEO of Develop Training , which works with major utility and construction companies , said recently that he was ‘ astonished to find that two thirds of companies are failing to take up the Apprenticeship Levy .’
‘ There is evidence that employers don ’ t fully understand the Levy …. more worrying is that businesses are missing out on an opportunity to train new and existing staff at a time when the country is suffering from serious skills shortages .’
The latest oil incident figures ( 2016 ) from the Environment Agency show another slight decrease in the number of oil incidents in England .
From a high of around 6,500 in 1995 , the figure was down to 2,000 incidents in 2016 .
With many old and often single skinned tanks still in existence , ensuring that customers are aware of their responsibilities remains important to ensure a continuation of this downward trend .
In May 2017 OFTEC and the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers joined forces to launch a new Tank Safe campaign , urging the 920,000 oilheated homes in England , Wales and Scotland to make sure their storage tanks are fit for purpose . Your assistance in spreading the word is much appreciated . www . oilsave . org . uk /
Number of incidents ( Cat 1 to 4 )
Oil incidents in England 1990 to 2016
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Fuel Oil News | January 2018 11