Apprenticeship Levy needs urgent clarity - CMI

16 March 2016 -

CMI welcomes 10% top up from government, but calls on Chancellor George Osborne to provide further information on the new levy as the Budget passes without clarification of how it will be implemented

Matt Scott

CMI is calling for clarity on the Apprenticeship Levy as Chancellor George Osborne fails to give further details on the proposed funding for the next generation of apprenticeships in today’s Budget.

The levy was conspicuous by its absence in Osborne’s speech, but a separate announcement did reveal the government will apply a 10% top-up to monthly levy payments from April 2017.

CMI director of external affairs Petra Wilton said: “The 10% top up on the Apprenticeship Levy means businesses get more out than they put in,” she said. “But business urgently needs further clarification from the Chancellor on the funding of the quality apprenticeships that will sustain Britain’s economic growth. Degree Apprenticeships will create a generation of true professionals capable of delivering significant business returns to employers.”

In his Autumn Statement last year, Osborne described apprenticeships as “the flagship of our commitment to skills” and said the new levy would raise £3bn by 2020, funding 3 million apprentices by the end of the decade.

Wilton argues that the introduction of the new levy will put funding for apprenticeships back in the hands of employers, helping to put effective training for first-time managers firmly back on the agenda.

“Businesses opposing the Apprenticeship Levy must realise that the greatest cost to jobs is the low productivity of managers already in the workplace,” Wilton said. “The levy tackles a blind spot in that 71% of businesses admit that they fail to effective train first-time managers.

“Investment in the next generation of managers has been shown to be more than repaid by the productivity gains they deliver. The new Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship funded by the levy will create a generation of true professionals capable of delivering significant business returns to their employers.”

Find out more about the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship here