YPO, one of the UK’s leading public sector procurement organisations, has launched an Apprenticeship Framework that will allow the UK public sector, including the health and social care sectors, to access apprenticeship training from a range of local and national suppliers.
The framework – the first and only one of its kind in the UK – has been developed by YPO to help all public sector organisations make better use of Apprenticeship Levy funds.
Launching ahead of the government adult social care recruitment campaign in autumn, which seeks to raise the image and profile of the sector, the framework will be vital for many organisations trying to fill their proportion of the 90,000 (approximate) social care vacancies that are currently unfilled.
Over the past three months, YPO has built relationships with more than 78 apprenticeship providers to create a national database of compliant providers across a wide range of sectors, this provider list will constantly grow each quarter dependent on market needs.
The resulting YPO Apprenticeship Framework is intended to reduce administration costs and enable apprenticeship levy created funds to be spent more effectively. Every quarter, the framework will also be updated as new apprenticeship standards come into effect, ensuring new providers can bid with ease for live and new standards.
Lizzy Grayson, Category Manager for Corporate Services at YPO, said: 
“The Apprenticeship Levy has been in effect for well over a year now and continues to be a contentious piece of legislation for the public sector as the government looks to meet its target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020. All public sector organisations must purchase their goods and services via compliant procurement regulations and apprenticeship schemes in health and social care sectors are no different. Following the launch of the YPO Apprenticeship Framework, all public sector organisations will have access to a range of compliant providers. Using a framework like YPO’s ensures a high standard of apprenticeship provider with a simple route of procurement.
It is commonly known that sectors such as health and social care have resources stretched to their limits and that has been the motivation for us building this framework – to support and enable sectors to utilise the funds they are accruing in a way which makes it more plausible for teams that are already struggling under the pressure of intense workloads.”
The YPO Apprenticeship Framework will launch 1st August across the public sector. For more information about the YPO please click here.
