This National Apprenticeship Week (7 to 13 February 2022), Hampshire County Council is encouraging the county’s employers to use the Levy Transfer Scheme to take on apprentices when growing their workforce and help to fill skill gaps in the county.
Councillor Roz Chadd, the County Council’s Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, which support apprenticeships and training, said, “In a week which highlights the value of apprentices to the workplace, I’m proud that over the past three years we have worked with more than 150 organisations across Hampshire to fund their apprenticeships, we have committed more than £3 million from our Apprenticeship Levy to achieve this – making it one of the largest local authority transfer schemes in the country. Close to 500 people have been employed in an apprenticeship as a result and it’s really heartening to see that those apprentices are being taken on in sectors that are desperately in need of trained staff, notably residential care, education and childcare.”
The County Council’s Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Scheme provides funding for employers to create apprenticeship opportunities. More than half have been employed in elderly care, with childcare and the education sector also benefiting.
Hampshire County Council Apprenticeship Levy funding is an amount of money that, by law, large employers must set aside for apprenticeship training. Since 2017, the County Council has created more than 1500 apprenticeship starts amongst its own staff and Hampshire schools.
Employers seeking a share of the County Council’s Levy Transfer funding are encouraged to prioritise the offer of an apprenticeship to those who are vulnerable, such as young people who are not in education or training, the long-term unemployed, care leavers and people with special educational needs and disabilities.
To qualify, employers must ensure apprentices are a Hampshire resident or working in the county, and that the apprentice’s place of training and work will be within the Hampshire County Council local authority area (even if the employer’s head office is not). Further sector related criteria will also apply.
Building on the success of its levy transfer scheme, the Council’s Apprenticeship and Skills Hub is supporting other large employers in Hampshire to make levy transfer commitments, to date securing pledges for more than £500,000 levy funds and offering a local brokerage service to support small businesses with their apprenticeship recruitment.
To find out more and apply for a Levy Transfer, visit www.theapprenticeshiphub.com.
