Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy (those with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million) will be able to pledge unspent levy funds (up to their 25% transfer allowance) to support apprenticeships in other businesses.  All businesses will be able to see these pledges on a public website and apply for funding to pay for 100% of their apprenticeship training and assessment costs (up to the funding band maximum).

If you wish to re-appraise yourself on the existing arrangements for transfers please take a look here: Transferring unused apprenticeship funds to other employers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Transferred funds will be used to pay for the training and assessment cost of the apprenticeships agreed with the receiving employer.

Sending and receiving employers need to know that:

• funds are paid monthly for the duration of the apprenticeship
• only levy-paying employers can make a transfer
• any employer can receive, and use transferred funds
• sending and receiving employers have to be registered on the apprenticeship service: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-apprenticeship-funds
• a transfer can only be used to pay for training and assessment for apprenticeship standards
• transfers can only be used for new starts, except where the apprentice is changing employer and an agreement to continue their apprenticeship with their new employer is through a transfer of levy funds

The latest document on Apprenticeship funding (not the funding rules) can be found here and on page 4 there is mention of the new pledge functionality Apprenticeship funding – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You can catch up with Education and Skills Funding Agency apprenticeship related webinars you can find a recording here on the ‘you tube’ site in the apprenticeship service – webinar recordings playlist: esfagovuk – YouTube

George Swann FIS Skills and Training Lead said:

“This allows large apprenticeship levy paying organisations to give direct support to micro and small businesses and provides an opportunity to keep the apprenticeship funding in the finishes and interiors sector.  As young people consider their future options now is a great time to investigate taking on an apprentice or pledge unspent apprenticeship levy funds for smaller organisations to utilise”.

Following a vote of the FIS membership on the level of money proposed to be collected for the construction industry levy by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), FIS has voted against the CITB proposal.

The Construction Industry Levy is collected and distributed by CITB in a process governed by the Industrial Training Act.  FIS, as a CITB Prescribed Organisation according to the Act, are required to consult with Levy paying members of FIS through the defined process and respond collectively on their behalf.

The future collection levels proposed by CITB were:

• 0.35% on PAYE staff
• 1.25% on Net paid (taxable) CIS sub-contractors

Commenting on the vote FIS CEO Iain McIlwee stated:

“The vote in 2021 was closer than in the 2017 FIS consensus vote, which will be related to the significant increase of FIS members engagement in training and qualifications.  However, we still cannot give our support to the CITB proposal as the response shows that there remains widespread frustration with the performance of CITB.  The sector received grants for approximately 53% of levy paid between April 2019 and April 2020, which is a rise of approximately 20% on previous years, but it still means that a significant proportion of the levy collected is not utilised by or supporting those that are paying it.

We will await the final verdict in October and in the meantime will continue focus all of our efforts on working to support members in utilising levy paid through our one to one clinics and working collectively to address the profound skills shortage that is impacting our sector.”

Paul Leach Chair of the FIS Skills Board said:

“FIS has pulled out the stops to give everyone eligible a chance to have their say on this years consensus vote.  It was a close vote, within single figures and the views of members have been reported as stated.  It is testament to the support provided by FIS that there is a clear increase in the engagement of all members in skills, training and qualifications.”

Across the wider sector, Build UK has confirmed that after surveying its members, a majority confirmed their support for the continuation of the CITB Levy.

Build UK acknowledged that the level of support during this Consensus process was significantly lower than in previous years and added that it is clear that construction needs an Industry Training Board that is fit for purpose, responsive and effective at delivering the services and support required to meet the industry’s skills needs, and that members are not prepared to wait another three years to see fundamental changes in CITB’s delivery in order to fulfil this role.

The overall outcome of the consensus process is expected to be communicated by CITB to the industry after consultation with government by October 2021.

For further information on how FIS is supporting the sector in skills, click here.