In order to address this issue and attempt to stop a reduction in the number of apprenticeships offered by SMEs, the Institute has offered the following recommendations:
• Investing an additional £150m per year for apprenticeships at SMEs; • Funding apprenticeships for 16 – 18-year olds from the education budget, rather than the apprenticeship levy, requiring an additional £400m per year; • Requiring employers or individuals to provide top-up funding for higher and degree level apprenticeships for workers aged 25 and over. This would require employers to provide 50% of the cost of apprenticeships at level 4 and 5, and 75% of apprenticeships at level 6 and 7 for this age group, from outside of their levy funds. This would reduce levy spending by around £318m per year.
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GNS messages surrounding apprenticeship levy and employer allowance 4 November 2019 In the October Employer Bulletin HMRC advised that Generic Notification Service (GNS) messages will be circulated to employers as a reminder to review any claims that they are making in relation to either the apprenticeship levy or the employer allowance, or in some circumstances, both. The Bulletin included guidance relating to the eligibility rules surrounding both the apprenticeship levy and the employer allowance. This was prompted by the fact that there have been numerous claims submitted to HMRC that have been incorrect. As a result of this, some of the GNS messages that are sent will simply be prompts aimed to increase awareness and to remind employers to assess their eligibility internally. The messages will not necessarily be sent to advise that something has been submitted incorrectly or that there are any issues, so if a business receives a GNS message relating to either of the allowances, it is not cause to worry. HMRC has also confirmed that in the future, there will be increased circulation of GNS messages for educational purposes, to assist payroll departments in relation to correct payroll processing and real time submissions. The advice is to check the GNS messages regularly as they are important and play a vital role in allowing HMRC to communicate with employers.
There is further guidance surrounding both the apprenticeship levy and the employment allowance online and businesses are encouraged to review this information and ensure they are acting in accordance with the rules.
CIPP comment
In the CIPP Policy Hub area, accessible to members, a webcast surrounding changes to employment allowance from April 2020 is available to view. Presented by the CIPP’s Diana Bruce, it provides updates that are essential for employers and payrollers to familiarise themselves with prior to the turn of the next tax year.
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Nearly half of businesses are yet to utilise their apprenticeship levy pot 12 December 2019 A new survey has found that almost half of organisations who must contribute to the apprenticeship levy pot, because they pay over £3 million in wages each year to their staff, have not yet accessed those funds to spend on the training and development of their employees.
510 businesses were approached by Grant Thornton, an accountancy firm, and 45% of them revealed that they had not yet utilised the apprenticeship levy pot that they are entitled to. The responses to other questions that were asked
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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