Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 38 of 2024–25

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [HL] would abolish the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) and transfer its statutory functions to the secretary of state. The IfATE’s role is to work with employers to develop and approve apprenticeships and technical qualifications.

 The government states the bill provides legislative underpinnings required to deliver the 2024 manifesto commitment to establish Skills England, a new arms’ length body of the Department for Education (DfE). The bill would enable this by:

• abolishing the IfATE
• transferring statutory functions from the IfATE to the secretary of state and amending some of the functions to be transferred
• enabling a scheme to be made to transfer the IfATE’s property, rights and liabilities to the secretary of state
• making transitional arrangements to ensure that existing approvals by the IfATE of qualifications, standards and apprenticeship assessment plans would continue to have effect as if made by the secretary of state

The bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 22 October 2024.

Skills England was launched in July 2024 in shadow form. The government intends for it to take on the functions of the IfATE. However, Skills England is to have a broader remit. It will also assess skills gaps and demand across the UK and be responsible for identifying the training for which the new growth and skill levy would be accessible. This new levy will replace the existing apprenticeship levy. The government argues that Skills England will “bring together businesses, providers, unions, mayoral combined authorities and national government” to ensure England has “the highly trained workforce” it needs.