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‘Kickstart’ the economy with Apprenticeships and Traineeships

Crowd of business people on their way from work. They are unrecognisable. Long exposure shot.

The Chancellor’s summer statement focuses on three things:

  1. Support jobs
  2. Protect jobs
  3. Create jobs

This government clearly acknowledges the role for continued work-based skills development, through apprenticeships and traineeships. We welcomed this news and have summarised the main features below:

  • £1.6 billion will be invested in scaling-up employment support schemes, training and apprenticeships.
    • Businesses will be given £2,000 for each new apprentice that they hire under the age of 25 and £1,500 for those aged over 25 (in addition to the existing £1,000 payment for 16-18 year olds or those under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan).
    • Plans to treble participation in traineeships by allocating an additional £111 million in 2020. Employers will be given an incentive of £1,000 per trainee. Traineeships will now be open to those with level 3 qualifications or below.
    • £17 million of funding to triple the number of sector-based work academy placements in 2020-21.
  • £101 million will be invested in 18-19 year olds, to study targeted level 2 and 3 courses throughout 2020-21. Full details of these courses are yet to be announced, but are expected to include STEM A-levels.
  • A £2 billion ‘Kickstart’ fund to incentivise organisations to employ an unemployed young person. Aimed at those aged 16-24 who have been on universal credit, this scheme will fund 100% of national minimum wage for a minimum of 25 hours a week for six months. Employers can top this up. An organisation must prove that the role is new. Applications for this scheme are open from August, 2020. This scheme should create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country.
  • A job retention scheme is being introduced to retain staff currently on furlough. Organisations will be paid £1,000 for every employee returning off furlough, providing they are still employed as of 31 January 2021.

This is an inspirational apprenticeship and skills package. There is clear acknowledgement that apprenticeships and traineeships work. The challenge is enormous and the size of the funds recognises this.

We look forward to working with our training providers, colleges, universities and employer providers as they scale-up to meet the demands.

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