An apprenticeship can take you anywhere

14 March 2016

This week celebrates National Apprenticeship Week 2016 and is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

National Apprenticeship Week is co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service which is part of the Skills Funding Agency, an executive agency sponsored by The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) to fund skills training for further education (FE) in England. They support over 1,000 colleges, private training organisations and employers with more than £4 billion of funding each year. The National Apprenticeship Service co-ordinates and promotes the delivery of apprenticeships in England.

The Apprenticeship Week in Wales also runs from 14 to 18 March.

The Scottish Apprenticeship Week ran from 29 Feb to 4 March.

Apprenticeship Levy

April 2017 will see the Apprenticeship Levy come into effect; a levy on UK employers to fund new apprenticeships. In England, control of apprenticeship funding will be put in the hands of employers through the Digital Apprenticeship Service.

Draft legislation has already been published introduced in Finance Bill 2016 to provide for a levy to be charged on employers’ paybills at a rate of 0.5%. The levy will be payable through PAYE and will be payable alongside income tax and National Insurance. To keep the process as simple as possible “paybill” will be based on total employee earnings subject to Class 1 secondary NICs.

Each employer will receive one annual allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment which will mean the Levy will be payable on pay bills in excess of £3 million a year. The rules for determining which companies are considered 'connected' will be the same as those for the Employment Allowance.

The policy intention is that they will calculate and pay the levy on a monthly basis. HMRC will be engaging with employers and stakeholders (including the CIPP) to discuss and assess the impacts on them and how the process will work in practice.

Payroll software capability will be key to the administration of the levy and it is hoped that guidance for software developers will be published in the next couple of months.

Why not take a look at the opportunities available through the CIPP payroll apprenticeship scheme.