Share Unused Apprenticeship Levy Funds, Employers Urged
The Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) are calling for any apprenticeship levy-paying employers to share any unused funds.
Employers can transfer up to 25% of the funds in their apprenticeship service account to any employers they choose.
The levy exists to fund apprenticeship training for all employers and is paid by employers with a pay bill over £3million – with these employers paying 0.5% of their annual pay bill.
Smaller employers can then pay 5% of the cost of their apprenticeship training, with the government paying the other 95%.
Employers paying into an apprenticeship levy fund are now able to transfer 25% of the annual value to any smaller employer or apprenticeship training agencies. However, there is only a 24 month time limit before the government can claim it back.
APHC director, Mark Antrobus, has been urging employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy to decide where the funds should go: "There are hundreds if not thousands of large employers in our industry who are paying the apprenticeship levy. There is a 24-month time limit on spending apprenticeship levy funds and consequently if a company doesn't spend it, the government will claim it back to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying businesses. So, if your company didn't spend the levy and therefore lost the remaining funds this April, I urge you not to lose the funds next year and take control now by choosing who you want the funds to go to.
"A Freedom of Information request has shown that the government received £4.2 billion in levys since April 2017, but only £601m has been paid out to employers so there is a real opportunity for large employers to invest in the plumbing and heating industry for the direct benefit of the many smaller companies in their supply chain and of course the thousands of plumbing and heating businesses who use and install their products on a daily basis. This could help drive our sector's growth, assist with meeting our sector's longer-term skills requirements and of course more immediately provide much needed apprenticeships."
