I can assure my noble friend absolutely that I am in regular and detailed dialogue with my ministerial colleagues. I will certainly share your Lordships’ concerns with them but, if I may, I would like to progress in responding to these amendments.
Turning to the other aspects of the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Watson, I agree that the list of qualifications in the free courses for jobs offer should be updated regularly and reflect labour market need. That is why we keep the list under review and accept suggestions for additional qualifications twice a year from mayoral combined authorities, the Greater London Authority and qualification-awarding organisations. For example, we added hospitality qualifications to the offer in July to ensure that it meets key needs in that sector.
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Maintaining the offer as a policy entitlement allows us to continue to respond quickly to the changing labour market. I am sure that this is not the noble Lord’s intention, but the amendment has the potential to slow that process down. There are an estimated 11 million adults aged over 24 in England without a level 3 who can now access their first level 3 via the three courses for jobs offer. We know that there are real benefits to adults gaining a level 3 qualification. Achieving a full level 3 on average gives adults 14% to 16% higher wages and a 4% increase in their chance of being employed. It is right that we focus on those who have not already achieved those advanced level skills, as they have a significant amount to gain. Learners who already have a level 3 or higher can still benefit from a generous government-backed advanced learner loan.
Turning now to the amendment tabled by my noble and learned friend Lord Clarke and also in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Layard, I absolutely agree
with the noble Lord, Lord Layard, that this reform is fundamental to achieving our levelling-up ambitions. The Government are clear that the further education funding system needs to change in order to meet the needs of learners.
I shall spend a moment setting out what the Government are doing. We are reforming the adult skills funding system so that it is simpler, outcome-focused and more effective. We are currently consulting on this and it would be wrong to pre-empt the outcome of that consultation. We do not want to commit to funding arrangements on a piecemeal basis, which is why we cannot accept this amendment.
I remind your Lordships that we are proposing, first, to introduce a single skills fund that brings together all direct funding for adult skills, making the system easier for colleges to navigate; secondly, to establish a simpler and fairer way of allocating the money within the skills fund; and, thirdly, to give more certainty to colleges over their funding, including over multiple years, which I think goes to the heart of the second part of my noble and learned friend’s amendment.
On the third element of my noble and learned friend’s amendment, noble Lords are aware—my noble and learned friend anticipated this perfectly—that it is a central principle of the apprenticeship programme that employers take the decisions about who they recruit as an apprentice on which standard, including the level of apprenticeship, and government funding will then follow those decisions. We believe that employers are better placed to make those choices, as they know what skills they need and who might best meet that need. Therefore, we would be concerned about restricting that choice by agreeing to that part of the amendment. It might work for some employers, but not for all. It would reduce opportunities for older employees who may want to retrain for progress. There may also be younger people who want to start with a higher-level apprenticeship.
From August 2020 to April 2021, 16 to 24 year-olds accounted for just over 50% of apprenticeship starts and, in the same period, level 2 and level 3 starts made up more than two-thirds of total starts. The latest figures show that more than 101,000 apprentices have been supported through the apprenticeship initiatives between August 2020 and September 2021, of which 76% are aged between 16 and 24.
There were a couple of other questions. My noble and learned friend Lord Clarke talked about converting existing training into apprenticeships. Employers cannot simply convert their own training into an apprenticeship. The Institute for Apprenticeships approves all apprenticeship standards to ensure they meet high quality requirements. Apprenticeships must last a minimum of 12 months and include at least 20% off-the-job training.
The noble Lord, Lord Adonis, asked about the number of apprenticeships in the Department for Education. I am pleased to tell him that times have moved on since he and the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, were battling on this. We have a strong internal apprenticeships programme. We have more than 350 apprenticeships, on standards from level 2 to level 7. Following a successful pilot last year, we put in place a new policy for external recruitment at our EA and EO grades,
which I am informed are the two lowest grades in the Civil Service, in February 2021. Externally advertised vacancies at these grades are now recruited as apprentices by default.
In conclusion, I am grateful to my noble and learned friend Lord Clarke and the noble Lord, Lord Watson of Invergowrie, for tabling these amendments. It is vital that all adults in England can access their first level 2 and level 3 qualifications for free, which is why the Government are already funding this through existing legal and policy entitlements. I also agree that the funding system must be fit for purpose. That is why, as I set out, we are currently consulting on new funding and accountability arrangements for the further education system, which aim to give providers more certainty and allow them to focus on education and training.
I hope my noble and learned friend and the noble Lord, Lord Watson, are satisfied with the work being done in these areas. If so, would my noble and learned friend be happy to withdraw his amendment, and would the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, in place of the noble Lord, Lord Watson, not move Amendment 60 when it is reach?