{"id":14730,"date":"2018-03-06T16:42:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T16:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14730"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:07","slug":"apprenticeship-levy-week-fall-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14730","title":{"rendered":"‘Wake-up call’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Apprenticeships started during the present academic year have dropped by 26.5 per cent compared to the previous year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a drop Unite says is due to the botched rollout of a new apprenticeship levy.<\/p>\n

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Official data \u00e2\u20ac\u201c released in time for National Apprenticeship Week<\/a>, which runs from 6 to 9 March \u00e2\u20ac\u201c shows 114,000 people began apprenticeships between August and October 2017, compared to 155,600 during the same period in 2016.<\/p>\n

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Between May and July 2017, the end of the last academic year, apprenticeship<\/a> numbers plummeted by 61 per cent.<\/p>\n

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The cliff edge came after the introduction of the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u015bapprenticeship levy\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 last April. The levy, raised by taxing company payrolls, is meant to reduce the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skills gap<\/a> by encouraging employers to take on more apprentices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Firms with a payroll of \u00c2\u01413m and above are required to pay 0.5 per cent of their total wage bill to the government. Companies of any size can apply for funding, raised through the levy, to pay for apprenticeship training. However, the system has been criticised as too bureaucratic and complex.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b(The) figures should act as a wake-up call to government, which has failed to act on industry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growing concerns around the apprenticeship levy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Verity Davidge, head of education and skills at the manufacturers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 organisation EEF.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis worrying trend is not just hampering employers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ability to get the skills their business needs, it is taking away invaluable opportunities for the next generation to undertake training and secure a future job. It is clear the apprenticeship levy and wider reforms aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t working and need a radical rethink.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary for manufacturing Tony Burke said the levy seemed \u00e2\u20ac\u015bto have been written on the back of a fag packet and worked out later on\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and was causing consternation in the sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nor is dissatisfaction with the levy just limited to manufacturing industries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Construction apprenticeships<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSmall and medium size firms in construction disproportionately do more than others in the sector; providing good quality apprenticeships. These firms were telling us the levy would choke off their funding support,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Gail Cartmail, Unite assistant general secretary for construction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor whatever reason the steep drop in apprentice numbers is worrying for construction, worsening still a skill shortage that Brexit can only add to.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cartmail said Unite had repeatedly warned<\/a> the government that the means by which the levy was introduced risked unintended consequences, but had been ignored.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNone of the high level bodies charged with sorting this out now have union involvement and it is cold comfort to Unite, knowing we were right and that we have solutions but no one is listening.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis should change and government need look no further than Germany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acknowledged skill strategy, with unions at the heart of social dialogue.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apprenticeships started during the present academic year have dropped by 26.5 per cent compared to the previous year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a drop Unite says is due to the botched rollout of a new apprenticeship levy.   Official data \u00e2\u20ac\u201c released in time for National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from 6 to 9 March \u00e2\u20ac\u201c shows 114,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[878,260,167,55],"wps_subtitle":"Apprenticeship levy blamed for fall in numbers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14730"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26357,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730\/revisions\/26357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}