Supply chain SMEs could gain from the Apprenticeship Levy
The funding companies will receive from the levy could be used eventually to pay for apprentices in SMEs in their supply chains, said the SFA’s director of the National Apprenticeship Service Sue Husband.
However, this would not happen until after the levy had been rolled out next spring. Husband said that the framework for the levy was still under development.
Making the levy understandable for the businesses that would be paying into it was the current priority, she added.
Husband also encouraged employers to think more positively about the levy. The speed at which the levy was approaching was “not going to slow down, so I think the best thing all of us can do is get on-board and engage”, she told delegates at a one-day conference organised in London by the social enterprise MyKindaFuture.
‘Get on-board and engage’
She also warned that companies would lose any funding gained from the levy if it was not used within 18 months. She urged businesses to make robust plans to ensure the funds were spent within the deadline.
New levy funding would affect current apprenticeship and training programmes. Existing apprentices would remain on the same funding they started on for the length of their training.
“Only apprentices who started on or after April 2017 will be funded through the levy,” said Husband.
Charged at a rate of 0.5%
The Apprenticeship Levy will come into effect in the UK from April 6 2017. Businesses will be charged at a rate of 0.5% of their pay bill if it is over £3M a year.
Companies will receive an allowance of £15,000 a year to offset against the levy.
The careers advice group MyKindaFuture has worked with more than 4,500 schools and has established societies within more than 50 university campuses. The organisation has over 32 years’ experience working with young people and their influencers.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the manufacturer’s organisation EEF warned of potential problems linked to the Apprenticeship Levy. The Levy was described as a “looming car crash" by director of employment and skills policy Tim Thomas.
“The headlong rush to bring this levy to market has left little time to iron out some significant wrinkles and get responses to industry’s unanswered questions.”
