The government has made the right call in not delaying next April’s start of the apprenticeship levy, according to the training providers who deliver three-quarters of apprenticeships in England.

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) said: “Today’s announcement is vital for achieving the government’s 3 million apprenticeship target and we’ve made clear to ministers that training providers can and will deliver the target for them. Any delay would have made the task very difficult. It’s good that we now have new information on the levy for employers. As the programme’s lead salesforce, our provider members have been playing a huge role in explaining the government’s reforms to employers and businesses say they really need the details that have been issued today. Working in partnership with employers, we can now get on with the job of ensuring that the levy starts off well.”

Concerns remain on SME engagement in apprenticeships
However AELP has concerns about how the reforms will impact on non-levy paying employers despite the announcement that small businesses will continue to have their apprenticeships for 16 to 18 year olds funded by government. The proposed subsidy rate of 90% for larger SMEs means that mass disengagement on their part may now be avoided but the insistence of a cash contribution from these employers could in our view still have a very negative impact. Therefore AELP has asked ministers to keep the matter under review. The requirement should be quickly phased out if our fears about the impact are realised. Since the publication of the Richard review proposals for apprenticeship reforms in 2012, AELP has led a relentless campaign to retain incentives which will keep SMEs on board the programme. These businesses account for more than half of the available apprenticeship opportunities and help make them inclusive for young people across both urban and rural areas. Withdrawal of these employers will damage the new government’s social mobility agenda and its ambitions for improved productivity.

Mark Dawe said: “Apprenticeships must be at the heart of the Prime Minister’s social mobility agenda and this is why it’s vital that incentives are maintained for smaller businesses to offer young people a high quality start to their careers. We’ve also said to the government that it must maintain a guaranteed level of funding for the apprenticeships offered by non-levy payers, i.e. it shouldn’t just hope that the levy proceeds are adequate to cover the funding of apprenticeships in all businesses.” Other important details in the new documents are subject to consultation and AELP will be conferring with its members about them. Link to government proposals:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-proposals-for-funding-from-may-2017