Government apprenticeship cash boost for employers
The Chancellors’ ‘Plan for Jobs’ introduced a range of incentives for employers to support jobs by focussing on skills and young people. With 50 years’ experience in delivering engineering apprenticeships, The Southampton Engineering Training Association (SETA) is supporting employers to understand the range of incentives available and how they can assist their organisation.
SETA, based at Millbrook, Southampton, wants to make sure that local employers benefit from the new government financial incentives available to all employers to invest in their workforce with apprenticeship programmes.
Apprenticeships are jobs with vocational training which leads to an Apprenticeship qualification upon completion.
This comes at a crucial time as the UK tries to recover from the potential lasting effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. Early indicators for July 2020 from The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that the number of employees in the UK on payrolls is down around 730,000 compared with March 2020. So any help will be crucial in enabling businesses to make tentative steps on the road to recovery.
What incentives are available for apprenticeships?
New incentives include up to £2,000 for any employer looking to recruit a new apprentice aged 16-24 between August and January 2021, with £1,500 available for employers recruiting apprentices aged 25+. This is on top of the existing £1,000 available to SMEs recruiting a 16-18 year old. Meaning that an SME business can receive £3,000 if they employ a 16-18 year old as an apprentice. Criteria apply. The flyer towards the bottom of this age summarise the incentives available to employers.
As well as this the number of apprentices that SMEs can fund through their Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS) account has also increased from three up to ten enabling them to recruit apprentices quicker, ultimately benefitting from the 95% - 100% government co-funding. The flyer towards the bottom of this page explains the
Tim Stedman, Managing Director, of Four-Tees Engineers Limited, an engineering company based in Segensworth, Fareham, said “Apprenticeships enable you to develop people in a way that promotes the specific skills required by your business and industry. We took on a Metal Fabrication Apprentice a couple of years ago, and he is turning out to be a very good addition to our team. We are investing in the future of our business even further by recruiting another apprentice this autumn as well. The Government Incentives will help towards the costs involved with taking on a new employee.”
Julie Gough, Managing Director commented “SETA will continue to support and work with local employers to ensure that they make the most of the new incentives when looking to invest in their staff and future workforce through engineering apprenticeship programmes helping to provide the vital skills needed for recovery.”
She continues, “These new incentives will go some way in helping to get the economy back on its feet after the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak as the need for a highly skilled workforce will be more important than ever. By investing now we are creating tomorrows engineers.”
If you would like to speak to SETA about the new incentives available, or to see how we could support your business with apprenticeships or upskilling existing staff then please contact Nick Hinks, Business Development Manager, nhinks@seta-training.co.uk or Nikita Allum, responsible for Government Funding & Contracts Management nallum@seta-training.co.uk
Pictured: Jakub receiving his Award for Welding Practical Skills in the 2019 Awards Evening at SETA presented by Royston Smith, MP for Itchen.
**EDIT - These incentives have now been extended until March 2021 as detailed in the one year spending review 2021-2022 announced by The chancellor on 25 November 2020. The incentive guide below has been updated to reflect this.**
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