Register to get free articles
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has written to the secretary of state for education calling on the government to introduce an additional 8,000 apprenticeships across retail to the Apprenticeship Levy.
It also revealed there are three main changes which could improve the functioning of the levy for businesses, allowing more training to take place and reducing the “huge” amount of unused funds currently sitting in retailer levy accounts:
Firstly to allow high-quality short courses in functional skills. The BRC said current Levy fund rules mean courses have to be a minimum of one year in duration – short courses are “crucial” to improving productivity in retail.
Secondly, the consortium asked to allow Levy funds to cover associated training costs, including transport, or backfilling roles to free up staff for off-site training.
Additionally the BRC also said to allow a “wider range” of courses to be supported through Levy funds, whilst correspondingly allow funds to be used to support more young people through pre-employment and pre-apprenticeship programmes.
The BRC hopes to meet the Secretary of State to discuss possible changes to the Apprenticeship scheme.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Bringing about more flexibility in the Apprenticeship Levy would not cost Government or businesses a penny but could help bring about an estimated 8,000 new apprenticeship places across the retail industry.
“To deliver on government commitments to upskilling the UK workforce, we need the Apprenticeship Levy to work for both businesses and apprentices.”
