SKILLS & TRAINING
Helping employers to benefit from the Apprenticeship Levy
By Giles Holmes (pictured), Senior Account Manager at Leicester College
The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in April 2017 as a levy on UK employers to fund new apprenticeships. The levy is charged at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill and each employer receives an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment. While only businesses with a paybill in excess of £3m per
annum have to pay the levy, all other employers (except those with fewer than 50 employers) have to contribute ten per cent of the cost of any apprentices that they employ. The remainder is met by the Government. The levy was part of the Government’s commitment to
create an additional three million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. The aim is to deliver new apprenticeships and support quality training by putting employers at the centre of the system. Employers which are committed to training will be able to get back more than they put in by training sufficient numbers of apprentices.
CHALLENGES FACED Although the implementation felt rushed to employers, there were a number of other challenges to the successful introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy. There were complexities in the Apprenticeship Service System, as there was a change from frameworks to standards at the same time and the speed of transition had a real impact on colleges/providers. In addition to this, the word ‘levy’ was perceived by
some as just another employer tax, while some employers’ past experiences of apprenticeships affected the way that they understood the new levy.
The apprenticeship levy has created a number of opportunities
A STRATEGY TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES From our perspective, the introduction of the levy has enabled Further Education (FE) colleges to conduct high quality discussions with local large employers. These discussions have centred on carrying out initial mapping work to identify suitable apprenticeship standards that align to eligible existing employees and potential new apprentice recruits. The college’s apprenticeship levy support offer for levy-
paying employers is delivered via our dedicated managed apprenticeship service offer that encompasses: • Dedicated account management support for levy paying employers
• Workforce analysis and mapping of roles to appropriate standards
• Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) support
SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED As a result of the roll-out of the apprenticeship levy, we’ve found a number of key successes and opportunities for both the college and associated employers. For example, there are now more higher-level apprenticeship standards than ever before across a significant range of job roles/functions. We can support the professional development of eligible
employees taking up new or additional responsibilities in their job role. We can also support the talent pipeline and development/succession planning with employers by adopting a 'think apprenticeship first' mentality when exploring if a new job opportunity could be an apprenticeship. A significant number of large levy employers have
looked for their local FE college to be their key contact and partner. This is linked to their levy spend and prioritisation/planning work, identifying how to best achieve a measurable return on investment from the levy. The employer-led focus of the new apprenticeship
standards is at the heart of all discussions. We are seeing levy employers further adding to the delivery by supporting the college in the design of our practical delivery, including the use of employer equipment in the college setting. Our focus on being agile is ensuring that our
apprenticeship offer and delivery meets local employer demand. Examples of this have included that in response to demand from IT/digital departments within businesses, we will be developing the recently-approved Network Engineer L4 from September. Also, from September 2019, we will be supporting private/public/voluntary sector employers in the delivery of their own vocational training for the Assessor/Coach level 4 and Learning and Skills Teacher Level 5.
APPRENTICESHIPS NOT JUST FOR LARGER COMPANIES Although the Apprenticeship Levy focus is on larger businesses, local SMEs remain absolutely key to the college in terms of ensuring that we meet their apprenticeship recruitment and skills/training requirements.
business network July/August 2019 63
FEATURE
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