£2,000 offered to firms to take on apprentices

An incentive of £2,000 has been offered to firms to take on teenagers, care leavers and those with special education needs, as apprentices.

Employers in England are being offered an extra £2,000 to take on teenagers, care leavers and those with special education needs, as apprentices – with small businesses subsidised with 90% of the cost of providing apprenticeships.

From 2017, larger firms will be required to contribute 0.5% of their payroll to the new apprenticeship scheme.

Employers group the CBI said firms were willing to take part, but the proposed date of April was too soon, and should be delayed.

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) said: “Any delay would make the task very difficult”, referring to the government’s target for three million apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon said: “We need to make sure people of all ages and backgrounds have a chance to get on in life. Apprenticeships give young people – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – a ladder of ‎opportunity.

“That’s why we continue to work tirelessly to deliver the skills our country needs. The apprenticeship levy is absolutely crucial to this.”

The government said that the £2.5Bn apprenticeship plan aimed to help every young person, regardless of background or ability, get the opportunity to learn valuable skills that would contribute to highly skilled workers for the future.

As part of the apprenticeship programme, the government plan to offer more flexibility for employers to re-train individuals in new skills, give employers more control and access to better quality training and use a 15-band system, which ranges from £1,500-£27,000, to divide apprenticeships.

Director General at CBI, Carolyn Fairbairn expressed concerns that the Apprenticeship Levy in its current form risks “turning the clock back on recent progress through poor design and rushed timescales”.

Jonathan Clifton of think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the plans did not go far enough. “The proposed apprenticeship levy will still only cover 2% of employers,” he said.

“In the long term, the government should expand the levy to cover all employers – because every firm has a role to play in training up the next generation.”

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