RETAIL giant Next has been criticised for poor treatment of its apprentices.
A Channel 4 Dispatches programme last night claimed the chain had slashed £2.5m off its wage bill by employing hundreds of low-earning apprentices, while giving them inadequate training in return.
The pay rate in 2015 for apprentices aged 16-18 is £3.30.
The programme, called Low Pay Britain, investigated whether high profile companies, including Leicestershire-based Next, were paying the ultra-low wage in return for poor training.
Next has a store in Lakeside.
The programme came on the back of a report, issued earlier this year by education watchdog Ofsted, in which Next’s management, teaching and assessment of its apprentices was rated as "inadequate".
The report also rated apprentices’ learning and outcomes as inadequate.
The company has since been re-inspected by Ofsted, which found some improvements had taken place.
In the highly critical report, issued in July, Ofsted inspectors said support provided for apprentices at Next’s stores across the country was inadequate, and did not ensure they remained on their apprenticeship to complete their qualification. As a result, said inspectors, too many of Next’s apprentices were withdrawing from learning.
The report said initial information, advice and guidance given to apprentices did not ensure they understood the demands of learning and working in retail and call centres.
Target setting and feedback were not effective in helping apprentices make good progress, said the report. They did not receive sufficiently comprehensive nor timely assessment of their English and maths skills, and when the need for tuition was identified, they were not given prompt access to tuition.
However, following another visit in September, inspectors said there were some signs of improvement, and that managers at Next had "responded quickly" to inspectors’ findings and recommendations.
Inspectors said managers at the company had carried out a critical assessment of Next’s apprenticeship programme, and the board and directors had "made a considerable investment in developing the training team and improving learning materials and resources to enhance apprentices’ learning experiences".
A new internet-based forum had been created to allow staff and apprentices to share ideas, raise concerns and respond to questions, inspectors said.
They added that those apprentices at risk of dropping out must be identified early, and interventions put in place to support them.
Priorities for improvement included ensuring that all apprentices had a high-quality learning experience.
A spokesman for Next said: "We were very disappointed with our first Ofsted inspection and completely accepted the report’s findings and recommendations back in July. We immediately commenced a vigorous programme of improvements and as such our recent monitoring visit from Ofsted was much more positive. Going forward we will not be taking on any more Apprentices until we achieve a much improved inspection."
In October, Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw criticised the quality of all apprenticeships, stating that often they were used as a means of accrediting existing low-level skills, such as making coffee and cleaning floors.
The Government has promised to create 3 million apprenticeships, alongside its flagship plans for the introduction next year of a new National Living Wage.
