Connect port, naval base, hospital and university jobs to local skills

The problem and who is affected

Large employers in Portsmouth, including the hospital, naval base, port, council and university, recruit apprentices separately. Apprenticeship starts by residents have been broadly flat, with fewer young starters, and the council says too few graduates stay. Residents in some wards are much more likely to claim unemployment-related benefits than others. Pay for local jobs and residents’ pay are now close, but both remain below England.

Who is affected: Young people leaving school or college, especially in wards with high claimant rates such as Charles Dickens, St Thomas, Nelson and Fratton; adults changing careers; small firms without levy funds; anchor employers with skills shortages.

What this would change

Aim: Help more residents, especially young people in higher-claimant wards, start and finish apprenticeships with local anchor employers and stay in work with rising pay.

What success would mean: More starts and achievements by residents of the targeted wards, more apprentices still employed a year after finishing, and pay progression for those who complete, measured against the published baselines. No numeric target is proposed without employer agreement.

Create a shared apprenticeship pipeline across willing anchor employers. It would publish one list of entry routes and vacancies; run joint outreach with schools, City of Portsmouth College, UTC Portsmouth and youth services in higher-claimant wards; offer pre-apprenticeship support (maths and English, interview help, travel and childcare advice); and use levy transfer and new foundation apprenticeships for small firms in supply chains. Employers would share anonymised starts, completion and retention data so results can be published.

Proposed lead: Portsmouth City Council employment and skills team, building on Solent Business & Skills Solutions (proposed; not agreed). Partners: Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, BAE Systems Maritime Services (naval base), Royal Navy, Portsmouth International Port (council-owned), University of Portsmouth, City of Portsmouth College, UTC Portsmouth, Hampshire Chamber of Commerce (Solent LSIP), Jobcentre Plus (DWP), Local small and medium employers.

Powers: The council can run employment and skills services, transfer its own levy and broker apprenticeships (sources pcc-careers-apprenticeships, pcc-skills-strategy-2026). It cannot direct private employers, the Royal Navy or the NHS trust to recruit. Apprenticeship funding rules are set nationally by the Department for Education through the growth and skills levy (source govuk-gsl-factsheet). Employer data sharing would need each organisation’s agreement and data-protection compliance.

Options

• Current approach: Continue separate schemes with council brokerage. Employers recruit separately; the council and Southampton run Solent Business & Skills Solutions and Transfer to Transform levy sharing; the 2026-2030 strategy relies on annual action plans.
• Proposed response: Shared anchor-employer pipeline with ward outreach. One published route into apprenticeships across willing anchor employers, with pre-apprenticeship support and outreach in higher-claimant wards, and shared outcome data.
• Alternative: Strengthen brokerage only. Expand Solent Business & Skills Solutions and levy transfer for small firms, without a formal anchor-employer pipeline. Cheaper, with less employer commitment needed.
• Alternative: Sector academies. Separate employer-led academies for health and care, and for marine and defence engineering, building on UTC and college links.

Costs, employer willingness and the effect of new national funding rules are unknown. If employers will not share data or places, brokerage alone may be the realistic option. Sector academies may suit employers with very different training needs.

Delivery plan

A first practical step: Publish a one-page map of current apprenticeship routes at the hospital, naval base, port, council, college and UTC, using their public pages, and invite employers to correct it.

Costs and funding

One-off costs

Not costed. Mapping and charter work would need staff time.

Recurring costs

Not costed. Outreach workers, pre-apprenticeship support and data reporting would be recurring revenue costs.

Capital or revenue

Revenue.

Funding status

Apprenticeship training and assessment are funded through the growth and skills levy and government co-investment (existing national funding). No funding was found for the coordination, outreach or support proposed here; these are uncosted and unfunded.

Affordability

Unknown. Council budget pressure is a constraint; employer contributions have not been sought.

Costing still needed

Cost a small coordination team and outreach support at current rates, separate from levy-funded training, and identify which partner would pay.

Benefits, risks and trade-offs

Possible benefits: Clearer routes into skilled local jobs; more starts by young people from higher-claimant wards; better use of unspent levy; evidence on retention and pay. Benefits depend on vacancies existing; training does not create jobs.

Risks:

• Employers may not commit places or share data.
• Vacancies may not match where residents live or the skills they have.
• Transport, childcare and housing costs may still block access.
• National funding rule changes could reduce some routes.
• Targeting by ward may miss disadvantaged young people living elsewhere.
• Results could be overstated if starts are counted without completions and retention.

Who could gain or lose: Young people and adults in higher-claimant wards should gain most. Existing staff upskilling could be squeezed if places shift to new entrants. Small firms could gain from levy transfer.

Capacity: Needs council skills staff, employer HR time and college capacity. The college and UTC already run employer partnerships.

How to judge progress

Reassess when: When DfE publishes final 2025/26 apprenticeship data; when ONS publishes revised 2026 ASHE in October 2027; or if national levy rules change again.

Where things stand

What is known:

• Resident and workplace pay medians for 2026 are published (provisional).
• About 1,350 apprenticeships started in 2024/25.
• The council runs levy transfer and apprenticeship brokerage with Southampton.
• UTC Portsmouth, the college and the hospital trust already run apprenticeships or employer links.
• National growth and skills levy changes took effect from August to October 2026.

What is not known:

• Completion and retention rates for Portsmouth residents.
• Current apprentice numbers at the naval base, port and hospital.
• Whether employers would join a shared pipeline.
• The definition and source of the 19% graduate retention figure.
• Costs of coordination and outreach.
• Whether a refreshed Solent LSIP exists.

Decisions needed:

• Whether the council will lead a shared pipeline.
• Which employers commit places and data.
• Who funds outreach and support.
• Which wards to target and how to measure them.

Existing work:

• Portsmouth Skills and Labour Market Strategy 2026-2030: Published March 2026; annual action plans proposed (as of 2026-03).
• Solent Business & Skills Solutions and Transfer to Transform levy sharing: Operating (page updated February 2026) (as of 2026-02-23).
• UTC Portsmouth employer partnerships: Operating; latest Ofsted inspection November 2025 (as of 2026-01-23).
• Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust apprenticeships: Operating (as of 2026-11-02).
• Growth and skills levy reforms (national): In force from August to October 2026 (as of 2026-09-02).

UK Facts context: Apprenticeships and technical routes (National apprenticeship evidence; funding rules are national, delivery here is local.) · Pay and security: is work paying more? (National pay context.) · Young people: routes into work, and what blocks them (National youth employment context.)

Next review: When DfE publishes final 2025/26 apprenticeship statistics with local authority data.. Evidence last checked 2026-11-02.

Sources

Where earlier ideas went

• local-skills (earlier 12-point plan): expanded. local-skills (whole action) Not carried forward: 2025 provisional pay baseline replaced by 2026 provisional; title widened to name the hospital and naval base.
• apprenticeship-hub (earlier ten suggestions): combined. local-skills: candidate option "Shared anchor-employer pipeline with ward outreach", intervention and evaluation Not carried forward: Low-millions set-up cost (no source); 19% described as graduate/apprentice retention (corrected to graduate retention, unsourced); Royal Navy/MOD and BAE named as responsible bodies (now partners, not owners); 3 to 7 year timescale.