Last week’s budget, the final before Brexit, led many in the media to focus on Phil Hammond’s assertion that we’re ending the "era of austerity”.
His 70 minute speech described having reached "a defining moment on this long, hard journey" after the rebuild of our public finances.
What many failed to pick out, however, was the tangible change being made to Apprenticeships - for small and medium sized business owners. After describing the budget as being aimed at the "strivers, the grafters and the carers," and promising them a "brighter future" it was pleasant to see a powerful, and very real, change to Apprenticeship contributions.
Mr Hammond revealed that the percentage fee small businesses pay when they take on apprentices will be halved from 10% to 5%. This is part of the £695 million package to support apprenticeships.
As well as backing businesses to invest and grow, we’ll also make sure British workers are equipped with the skills they need to thrive and prosper
- Phillip Hammond
This represents a further boost to businesses looking to upskill their current staff and attract the best talent.
It’s understood that the 5 per cent contribution will only apply to apprentices who
began their course when the new change comes into play. At the moment details and timescales aren’t explicit, but further information will be announced early next year.
Cost effective upskilling
Thanks to the Apprenticeship levy, brought out in 2017, professional training is much more accessible. The subsidy means that this type of expense is no longer reserved for larger organisations, with big training funds.
Head of Client Solutions at Kaplan, Cassandra McDonald, comments:
The growth of new Apprenticeship standards across a wide range of professional jobs, coupled with government funding, means opting to upskill your workforce costs a lot less than you think.
Now more than ever, the Apprenticeship standards not only make staff training more affordable, many lead all the way to the achievement of a Professional Qualification.
Many of these qualifications, which are covered within Apprenticeship standards, can be trained through a provider such as Kaplan. Our financial apprenticeships cover: ACA (ICAEW), AAT, CIMA, ACCA, ATT, CTA, ILM, CIPD, CICM, CII, CFA and ICA.
To find out about the full range of Professional Qualifications and Apprenticeship standards visit our site, and if you’d like to discover how this training can benefit your company, please speak to one of our team.