It will have its second reading on 2nd February.
The bill contains provisions to protect the term ‘apprenticeship’ in law, which means it would become an offence for a business to offer a course which is not a legally-recognised apprenticeship as such.
The bill also includes measures to create a small business commissioner, introduce a target for the total number of apprentices working in public sector bodies, and reform business rates appeals.
A Primary Authority regime from 2009, which enables business to operate under one set of rules set by their local council, will also be simplified. This means that even when a business expands to other local authority areas, it can still operate under one set of regulations with a single point of contact.
The bill can be found here