Welsh Government accused of misrepresenting apprenticeship figures

Emily Price

Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has been accused of misleading the public over claims her government has met its 100,000 apprenticeship target.

Baroness Morgan announced that the Welsh Government had met the key milestone during National Apprenticeship Week earlier in February.

In the Senedd on Tuesday (February 24) she was pressed on the claim by Plaid Cymru’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth.

He asked the First Minister to confirm whether the figure had only been achieved by using a “far less rigorous measure” where the government included those that have dropped out of apprenticeships early.

Ap Iorwerth accused Welsh Labour of “moving the goal posts” in order to achieve the target this Senedd term.

Speaking in the newly refurbished Siambr, he said: “I’m sure that the First Minister will agree with me that the transparency that we see in politics is of the utmost importance.

“This is especially true, of course, as we face the Senedd election in May, when the people of Wales decide whom they want to lead their next Government.

“So, in the pursuit of that transparency, I look at one particular issue: apprenticeships. A straightforward question first of all – how does the Welsh Government measure the number of apprenticeships created in Wales?”

Medr – the body which oversees post-16 education – announced on 22nd January the figure was just over 91,000 apprenticeships created during this Senedd term, using a more rigorous measure which the Welsh Government previously used themselves.

Responding to Plaid’s accusation, Baroness Morgan said: “We’ve had the delivery unit, who have come in from outside Wales, to make sure that we deliver in a way that is transparent, that is clear, and in a way that everybody’s done this consistently across Wales.

“Let me be clear that we are very proud of the fact that we’ve managed to deliver 100,000 apprenticeships across Wales – it was a real pleasure for me to meet some of them in north Wales just yesterday – transforming their lives.

“And the fact is that we’ve managed to do that despite the fact that European funding was withdrawn, which made it far more difficult.

“Thanks to Brexit, it has been more difficult, but we’ve still managed to deliver 100,000 apprenticeships in Wales, and that’s something we’re very proud of.”

Ap Iorwerth hit back, saying that traditionally apprenticeships were not counted until an apprentice had completed eight weeks.

He said: “You don’t measure those dropping out before, because you’re looking for positive and successful outcomes.

“Medr published figures showing that there had been just over 91,000 apprenticeships delivered during this Senedd term. Then, a few weeks later, on 10 February, the Minister for Skills announced in the Chamber that the Welsh Government had, and I quote, achieved its target of having delivered 100,000 apprenticeships.

“Now, setting aside the fact that the original target was 125,000, now reduced by 25,000 apprentices, will the First Minister confirm that the 100,000 figure has, in fact, only been achieved by using a far less rigorous measure, where the Government does now include those who have dropped out early?”

Baroness Morgan argued that the Welsh Government used a system that had been “tried and tested and understood”.

She said: “We’re very clear in Wales that, when we count, for example, our waiting lists, we count things like therapies and diagnostics.

“They don’t do that in England. So, we want to make sure that, when we count things, we count things in a consistent way across all of the skills partners across Wales, and that’s what the delivery unit has helped us to do.”

The First Minister repeated that despite millions of pounds of European funding being withdrawn as a result of Brexit – Wales had still hit the target of 100,000 apprenticeships.

Plaid Cymru’s leader argued that target had been set after Brexit and then cut by 20 per cent.

Ap Iorwerth said: “It makes not a bit of difference whether the advice to change the measure came from inside or outside Wales.

“The point is that the sector is clear: the measure has recently been changed, and Labour’s legacy all too often, is one of missing targets and then moving the goalposts to hide their own failures.

“They’ve done it with two-year waits in the NHS with waiting times in A&E, and now, they’re doing it again with apprenticeships.”

Baroness Morgan responded saying: “I don’t accept that we’ve failed to deliver.

“I think we should be really proud of what we’ve managed to achieve over five years of Labour Government.

“I have focused on making sure that we grow the economy; making sure that we deliver those targets of 100,000 apprenticeships; making sure that we deliver on 20,000 homes.”

Speaking after Questions to the First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Transparency in politics is of the utmost importance – especially as we approach the next Senedd elections.

“Yet this Labour Welsh Government have conveniently changed how it calculates  apprenticeships to meet their reduced target of 100,000 – when the actual figure is almost 10,000 fewer when you exclude those who have dropped out of the programme within just eight weeks.

“This is the opposite of the transparency that the people of Wales expect from their government.

“But we know this government has form on this. After all, Labour’s legacy is one of missing targets and then moving the goal posts to hide their failures: on two year waits in the NHS, A&E waiting times, and now with apprenticeships.

“It’s no wonder people are losing faith in Labour: not only for their record of failing to deliver, but their decision to sugarcoat every failure instead of taking accountability.”