b'22 Local Government LawyerApprenticeship scheme, meaning each apprentice can be supported by up to 27,000 in government funding.The legal department started its grow your own initiative in 2022 after discussions around replacing a soon-to-qualify trainee quickly evolved into consideration of the difficulties in recruiting good staff and the need to grow our own, Janice White, who was then a solicitor and Team LeaderPeople at Coventry, said.Coventry took on graduates who had either completed a qualifying law degree or the Graduate Diploma in Law and used the Governments apprenticeship levy funding to support the trainees through SQE1 and 2.The trainees were employed by the council on a fixed-term basis, allowing them to gain the qualifying work experience required to complete the SQE. Speaking to Local Government Lawyer in January 2022, White said: It is of course unusual for a local authority to recruit soCoventry has taken on eight graduate trainees with the view of training them via the SQEmany trainees at the same time, but we hope that by doing so we are developing a talentfeeder authority, Aremu says. learning is important. He also highlights the and succession strategy to address ongoingThe grow your own initiative has noroutes relative simplicity. difficulties in recruiting staff. standing if were not also looking to retain,If you look at the previous trainee solicitor This is very much an invest to savewhere we can, our graduate apprenticesroute, you have to come out of university, initiative and the intention is that thosewhom weve spent time and resourcesthen do your LPC, then secure your training graduates recruited now will hopefully movedeveloping. contract, then do your solicitor exams at the into any vacancies that might arise over theAremu is confident that the likelihoodback endand then you get qualified. coming years. that Coventry will retain the current cohortThat in itself involved a lot of hoops, More than two years on, the programmeof apprentices is quite high, but the currentwhereas the SQE is a bit more simplified has recently produced its first qualifiedstate of local government finances and anybecause it gives people the opportunity to solicitor, with the rest of the cohort stillchanges to the apprenticeship funding rulesactually learn while still working and earning working towards qualification.could cause issues further down the road.a wage.Reflecting on the programme, OluremiHe also raised fears about the DepartmentHowever, Coventrys ambitious programme Aremu, head of legal and procurement at thefor Education scrapping funding for theis not without its snags, according to Aremu, city council, says the SQE is very differentapprenticeship scheme. Since interviewingwho says the toughest part has been to what you used to have during the trainingAremu, the Government announced plans tomaintaining resourcing.contract days. axe level 7 apprenticeships for anyone overHe also notes that half of the battle is Unlike the LPC, where trainees would movethe age of 21, which could dampen Coventrysgetting graduate apprentices to recognise the from one seat to another over the courseprogramme. opportunity that they have been given.of two years, Coventrys SQE apprenticesWe cant promise that we will retainThe rest of it is for the employer to ensure were brought into specific legal teams whereeveryonelocal government is goingthat the trainees are being given the support qualified solicitors will be needed in thethrough financial challenges and savings andand resource required to do it.future, Aremu says. efficiencies to ensure that the council is ableAnd support is certainly needed, given What we wanted to do was to bringto discharge its statutory functions are alwaysrecent results show that the course is just as that expertise and resilience specifically intoat the top of the list, he admits. tough as the LPC.those respective teams, which is why weBut we are taking active steps to ensureOnly 44% of candidates passed the SQE1 have secured such a high number of graduatethat wherever an opportunity comes, we canexam in July 2024, down from a pass rate apprentices being brought in at one time, heearmark a vacant post for someone as theof 56% for those taking the exam in January notes.next natural progression once they finish the2024, mirroring figures from LPC, which saw a And the eight posts are not just a one-off.SQE. 57% pass rate in 2022/23. Coventry aims to hire new apprentices as andDespite the challenges, Coventrys trainees when a trainee qualifies. Support, resourcing, and the difficultiesare progressing well, Aremu reports.Another important part of Coventrysof the new scheme As of late January 2025, two of the city programme is making sure there are vacantCommenting on how the SQE differs fromcouncil graduate trainee apprentices have posts for the trainees to move into once theythe training contract route, Aremu says thesuccessfully completed the apprenticeship have graduated, to avoid Coventry becoming aopportunity for people to work while alsohaving passed their exams.'