Toggle high contrast
Advanced search
Mobile menu

Get a move on!

Developing a national travel discount entitlement for all apprentices
Report type
Research and reports
Issue date
The government’s policy commitment

The case for change

Transport costs comprise a major expense for apprentices and this is an increasingly significant factor driving the poverty trap that too many young people are caught up in. The above-inflation increases in public transport fares in recent years have, of course, made matters worse. For many individuals earning the apprenticeship minimum wage – currently £3.90 an hour 1   – the commute to their place of work accounts for a huge proportion of their weekly earnings. However, many apprentices paid above the apprenticeship minimum wage are still on very low pay rates and transport costs are therefore a significant barrier for the majority of young people on this training route.

Many young people facing financial pressures, of which transport costs are a major part, simply end up dropping out of their apprenticeship altogether. Some will never take up the offer of an apprenticeship because they recognise that the financial challenges in rural areas often compounded by lack of public transport make it an impossibility in their circumstances. As a result, we have a vicious circle of many young disadvantaged people ending locked out of labour market before their career has started because day-to-day expenses prevent them starting, or completing, an apprenticeship programme.

There are some parts of the country where local authorities are bucking the trend by supporting decent travel schemes for apprentices, including discounts that are in line with what is generally offered to FE and HE students in the local area. For instance, there is some limited support in Scotland for apprentice travel cost in the form of Young Scot Card offers discounts for 16-18-year-olds and in Wales mytravelpass provides bus discounts to all 16-21-year-olds. This report highlights good examples of such schemes but the reality is that they are few and far between and in many areas apprentices get little or no assistance with their travel costs. 

The government has recognised that this is a major barrier for apprentices and that the patchy nature of support is inequitable. Two years ago it committed to address this by putting in place arrangements to enable all apprentices to access travel discounts so that they would not be deterred from taking up, or completing, an apprenticeship. As we highlight below, we appear no closer to attainment of this policy objective than we were two years ago and the government simply needs to get a move on and deliver on this.

In subsequent sections of this report we look at a range of research findings demonstrating the degree to which transport costs are one of the major barriers facing apprentices, especially those facing disadvantage on a number of other fronts. We then highlight some innovative travel discount schemes for apprentices that are in existence and how government should draw on them to establish a new national entitlement. Finally, the report includes a number of recommendations about the principles that should govern a new national travel discount entitlement that would genuinely deliver on the government’s policy commitment.
 

The government has recognised that this is a major barrier for apprentices and that the patchy nature of support is inequitable. Two years ago it committed to address this by putting in place arrangements to enable all apprentices to access travel discounts so that they would not be deterred from taking up, or completing, an apprenticeship. As we highlight below, we appear no closer to attainment of this policy objective than we were two years ago and the government simply needs to get a move on and deliver on this.

In subsequent sections of this report we look at a range of research findings demonstrating the degree to which transport costs are one of the major barriers facing apprentices, especially those facing disadvantage on a number of other fronts. We then highlight some innovative travel discount schemes for apprentices that are in existence and how government should draw on them to establish a new national entitlement. Finally, the report includes a number of recommendations about the principles that should govern a new national travel discount entitlement that would genuinely deliver on the government’s policy commitment.

  • 1£3.90 apprentice minimum wage rate applies to apprentices under 19 and all ages in their first year of apprenticeship

The policy commitment

In its manifesto for the 2017 election the Conservative Party made the following commitment: “We will introduce significantly discounted bus and train travel for apprentices to ensure that no young person is deterred from an apprenticeship due to travel costs.” Subsequently this was adopted as a government policy objective by the government. Nearly two years later there is little progress towards a national entitlement to discounted bus and train travel for apprentices. What progress there has been is largely due to a number of initiatives developed by local authorities and transport authorities, including some schemes introduced by Combined Authorities. Some of the more innovative approaches are highlighted in section 4 of this report.

The House of Commons Education Select Committee has repeatedly called on the government to meet its commitment on discounted travel for apprentices. Last autumn it included the following recommendation in a major report 2  based on an inquiry held by the committee into apprenticeships: “The Government must stop dragging its feet over apprentice transport costs. It must set out how it plans to reduce apprentice travel costs, in a way which works for all regions and areas, in its response to our report, if not sooner.”

In this same report the Committee said: “We have asked ministers on five separate occasions when the policy will be implemented. We have been told time and again that discussions are ongoing. This is simply not good enough. The Government’s continued inaction is preventing the young and disadvantaged from taking the opportunities that would otherwise be open to them.”

In its response3   to the Select Committee’s report, the government stated that it would “write to the Committee in the coming weeks, including setting out the findings of bus research commissioned to inform its policy response to this challenge.” The government also highlighted the following points:

  • “Although there are no national concessionary schemes providing discounted travel for apprentices, there are some targeted schemes offered by local authorities, individual train or bus operators, and the National Union of Students. We also provide additional payments to employers and training apprentices who are young or from disadvantaged backgrounds. This funding can be used to support apprentices with travel costs where that is what’s needed most.”
  • “We are encouraged to see that Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) are already using newly devolved powers to meet the needs of apprentices in their area. In Liverpool, for example, the MCA have rolled out a scheme providing half-price travel to apprentices aged 19 to 24, on the same terms as the discount for 16 to 18-year-olds in full-time education, across all bus operators in the Liverpool City Region.” 
  • “We recognise that more can be done to remove the barriers to young people taking up apprenticeship opportunities, but further discounts will require additional funding. The Departments for Transport and Education will continue to work together to support discounted travel for apprentices, including through existing apprenticeship funding mechanisms, but given the additional cost to the taxpayer, the focus of this work will now turn to preparing proposals for consideration at the forthcoming spending review.”

When the Secretary of State was subsequently interviewed by the Committee on 16 January of this year he said4  :  “When we last corresponded before Christmas we were going to come back to you on the Department for Transport research project on buses, and we are not quite ready to do that yet but we will.” The Minister did raise progress in some related areas, including the announcement that government is to launch a new 16 to 17 railcard this September allowing this age group to buy train ticket at child prices, which are 50 per cent of adult fares, and apprentices aged 16-17 will be able to benefit from this. The Secretary of State also referred to the one-off £1,000 payment that is awarded to employers taking on apprentices aged 16-17 and the £1,000 a month bursary for care leavers recruited to an apprenticeship, both of which employers can draw on to subsidise transport costs for these particular groups.

However, the Chair of the Education Select Committee queried this response, saying: “There is not a specific programme as set out in the manifesto of getting rid of transport costs for apprentices ….. This was a firm commitment in 2017, so what is the timeline?” He also highlighted that the forthcoming 16-17 Railcard would only apply to a small proportion of apprentices. While the Secretary of State agreed that this was true, he contended that these recent initiatives could still potentially contribute to reduced transport costs for apprentices. Additionally, the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills referred to research done by Department for Transport on options for concessionary schemes and mentioned that solutions are being explored5 and lately the Department for Education and the Department for Transport have announced they are preparing a joint proposal for discounted public transport for apprentices6 .

Contents
01
Introduction
02
The government’s policy commitment
03
Research Findings
04
The travel costs barrier – research and campaigning
05
A national scheme – drawing on best practice
06
Principles for a national discount entitlement?
Single page view
Download Get a move on!
PDF | 336.43 KB

Join a union
Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now