Views sought on levy
The government has launched a formal consultation on the apprenticeship levy proposed for all large firms from 2017.
The move seeks to address skills shortages and the revenues will be used to pay for the government’s target of three million new apprentices by 2020.
Chancellor George Osborne proposed the apprenticeship levy in the July 2015 Budget, saying that too many large companies “leave the training to others and take a free ride on the system”.
The consultation closes on 2 October 2015 and seeks views on:
• paying the levy;
• how the levy should work for employers who operate across the whole of the UK;
• how to make sure that employers paying the levy have the opportunity to get more out than they put in; and
• how best to give employers control of apprenticeships.