The government has left Heavy Vehicle Technician apprenticeships high and dry with an ‘inadequate’ funding increase which fails to cover the cost of running the courses, the RHA warned this week.
The association said its failure to raise the funding band for HGV technician apprenticeships was a ‘missed opportunity’ which threatens the future of the apprenticeship, at a time when the industry is struggling with a severe skills shortage in the sector, reports Carol Millett.
The government has raised the funding band for HGV technician apprenticeships from £15,000 to £20,000. However, the RHA is arguing that this is a real term reduction which falls well short of the £23,000 needed to make running the courses viable.
The association has been lobbying hard for an increase since 2017 when the apprenticeship funding was slashed from £18,000 to £15,000, due to an error within two of the training quotes, which was not picked up by Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
