Apprenticeship starts tumble
As the news breaks that apprenticeship starts are down by 26% - following the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017 - its clear that currently, the Government is falling a long way short of its target of 3 million apprenticeship starts by 2020.
On paper, the Levy delivers good value. All businesses with a payroll over £3m per annum have to pay 0.5% of their wage bill towards funding apprenticeships, (employers get a £15,000 fixed annual allowance to offset against the levy payment). Once employers have registered for an apprenticeship service account, they can use that money, plus a 10% government contribution, on apprenticeships within their own organisation.