Traineeship restrictions will damage young people's job prospects, warn providers

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has received confirmation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) that people undertaking traineeships can only train for up to 16 hours a week, after which their eligibility to claim JSA is affected.

AELP has warned its members to consider the restriction when designing traineeships to ensure young people are not put off from gaining new skills by the risk of losing the benefit.

The government introduced traineeships this month for 16- to 24-year-olds who want to gain skills in subjects such as maths and English alongside workplace experience to help them find employment.

AELP director of employment Paul Warner said the rules would limit training providers in designing traineeships that “suit what the young person needs and gives them the best possible chance of getting back into work”.

“Training providers want to design a traineeship that will benefit young people or the employer, but they will have to take into account 16-hour rules and the amount of placement a young person can do before they start losing their benefit, which doesn’t seem right,” said Warner.

“The purpose of Universal Credit was to do away with disincentives to work that are built into the welfare system. And yet the first major thing the government has thought up since the transfer of Universal Credit has not taken into account anything to do with disincentives that are caused by benefits.”

The DWP and SFA responded jointly to AELP’s concerns, saying Jobcentre Plus partnership managers would “shortly be discussing with providers and employers how best traineeships can deliver on content while enabling unemployed participants to meet their benefit conditions”.

The statement continued: “Also, it's important to stress that funding arrangements give providers flexibility to design a programme to meet the needs and circumstances of both the learner and the employer.

“JSA claimants can undertake up to two weeks' training of over 16 hours in any 12-month period."

It added that scheme participants who had been on JSA for six months or longer would be able to train for up to 30 hours per week for eight weeks annually.

Office for National Statistics figures show that in June 2013 more than 374,000 18- to 24-year-olds were claiming JSA.