Last week Alison Wolf made a case for major apprenticeship funding reform in the form of a levy on all businesses in her paper, Fixing a Broken Training System: The case for an apprenticeship levy. A blanket levy on all businesses was rejected by the Confederation of British Industry; however, today sees the announcement by Chancellor George Osbourne of a levy on large businesses to help fund apprenticeships, with Osbourne saying that:
While many firms do a brilliant job of training their workforces, too many leave training to others and take a free ride on the system.”
Summer budget papers released state that:
The levy will support all post-16 apprenticeships in England. It will provide funding that each employer can use to meet their individual needs. The funding will be directly controlled by employers via the digital apprenticeships voucher, and firms that are committed to training will be able to get back more than they put in.” Full Summer Budget Report
More details will be released soon; until then – business leaders can only wonder about what the levy means to them.
