PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSIGHT
Apprenticeship reforms
Jason Clark, CIPP operations manager for the professional careers academy, provides an update with references to the available information
I n issue 27 (February 2017) of Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward , the apprenticeship levy was discussed in these two articles: Taking advantage of apprenticeship reforms (page 12) and The Apprenticeship levy (page 18). Samantha Mann’s article focussed on paying the apprenticeship levy and I wrote about apprenticeship reforms and preparations to take advantage of the levy. Since those articles, the apprenticeship levy has come into force (on 6 April 2017), and all United Kingdom (UK) employers are now required to report their apprenticeship levy payment. This is done using the employer’s normal payroll process via either the real time information employer payment summary or HM Revenue & Custom’s Basic PAYE tools. Though there has been very little change since February, the following outlines the processes: ● Funding for apprenticeship prior to 1 May 2017 remains unchanged and will continue to be funded under the rules when the apprentices began their learning journey. ● If you have not registered for an apprenticeship service account (previously known as digital apprenticeship service or, simply, DAS), you can still do so from the GOV.UK website (http://bit.ly/2lKUFMe). ● If you are not a levy paying employer, you will not be able to register for an account until 2018, at the earliest. ● Using your apprenticeship service account, you can: ❍ choose the type of apprenticeship programme (Framework or Standards), ❍ choose a training provider ❍ choose an end-point assessment organisation ❍ agree a price and how you will pay for the training and end-point assessment for the apprenticeship levy, and ❍ pay for the training provider from your apprenticeship levy funding.
● If you are a connected company, you can pool the funding in a single account. ● You have 24 months to utilise the funding before it expires. ● You cannot use apprenticeship levy funding for anything other than training and end-point assessment costs. This means that funding cannot be used for: wages, work placement programmes, statutory licenses to practice, travel and subscription costs, or setting up the apprenticeship programme. In my article, Taking advantage of apprenticeship reforms, I discussed arrangements for UK employers with a focus on the processes for England. This is because the UK government has allocated a proportion of the apprenticeship levy funding to each of the devolved nations. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will provide their own guidance on accessing the apprenticeship levy. ...Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will provide their own guidance on accessing the apprenticeship levy Even though the apprenticeship levy has now been introduced, there is still very little information from the devolved nations regarding the levy. ● Scotland – Skills Development Scotland has a devolved budget of £221 million in 2017/18 to support skills training and employment in Scotland. This is expected to support the delivery of 30,000 modern apprenticeship starts by 2020. A new £10million workforce development fund – that is expected to
be launched in autumn 2017 – will be introduced to upskill and retrain employers’ existing workforce in Scotland. This fund will focus on the older workforce where an apprenticeship will not be suitable. Further information on Scotland’s response to the apprenticeship levy can be found here: http://bit.ly/1ez5Vbl, or by contacting the apprenticeship service on 0800 917 8000. ● Wales – Business Wales does not allocate the apprenticeship funding in the same way. They do not ring-fence any funding but allocate the resources provided according to their priorities, one of which is to support the delivery of 100,000 apprenticeship starts by 2020. They will not be using a similar system to provide funding to employers but need to provide guidance on how funding can be claimed by employers. Their commitment to provide apprenticeship funding for individuals is irrespective of where the learner lives (which is different to England). They will fund an apprentice where they are working 51% of their time in Wales. Further information on Wales’s response to the apprenticeship levy can be found here: http://bit.ly/2prfmBr, or by contacting the apprenticeship service on 0292 090 6801. ● Northern Ireland – There is very little information about the apprenticeship levy available through NIBusinessInfo.co.uk, but at the time of writing they were drafting an employer guide and hoping to publish this at the beginning of May 2017. Further information on Northern Ireland’s response to the apprenticeship levy can be found here: http://bit.ly/2qnVMHJ, or by contacting the apprenticeship service on 0300 200 7876. n
CIPP members can utilise our Advisory Service on 0121 712 1099.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2017 | Issue 31 10
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