Transferring apprenticeship service funds to another employer

21 June 2018

Since 6 April 2017, employers with a pay bill over £3 million each year have been liable to pay the apprenticeship levy to HMRC through the PAYE process. Levy-paying employers can then create an account on the apprenticeship service in order to spend levy funds on apprenticeships, manage their apprentices and manage payments to training providers. If you’re a levy-paying employer, make sure you have registered for an account and are making the most of your levy funds.

If an employer who pays the apprenticeship levy does not plan to use all of the funds in their apprenticeship service account, they can now make a transfer to another employer to support them in taking on apprentices.

Transfers is the first big flexibility HMRC is offering to employers to help make apprenticeships work better for everyone, enabling larger employers to support other employers, for instance in their supply chain, sector or local area.

For the first phase, employers who have unused funds in their apprenticeship account will be able to transfer some of those funds to one other employer and that employer does not have to be a levy paying employer. The restriction to one transfer is temporary to enable testing of the new functionality. After user feedback from the first phase, the number of employers that one employer can transfer funds to, will increase, over time.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) blog has published a useful 7 point list to help employers prepare for transfers on the apprenticeship service:

  1. Look at your transfer allowance

  2. Consider the total costs of any apprenticeships you would like to support

  3. Find a receiving employer

  4. Have detailed conversations with your receiving employer

  5. Read the funding rules

  6. Review and sign the new employer agreement

  7. Agree the details and set up the transfer on the apprenticeship service

Read the full blog to see the details to consider under each of the 7 points.

 

Further information

Is your organisation using the apprenticeship levy to its full potential for training your workforce? Watch these short videos to understand how to use the apprenticeship service.

You can keep up to date by following @ESFAdigital on Twitter and reading the ESFA blog.

If you have any queries about the apprenticeship service, you can call 08000 150 600 or email [email protected].

 

 


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