Government reforms (3): Apprenticeships levy

What do we already know?

In our July 2015 Newsletter Government reforms (2): Budget news we updated you that George Osborne had announced a new Apprenticeships Levy for large employers.

In our September 2015 Newflash Apprenticeship Levy we updated you that the Government had published a Consultation on the Levy, available here. The Consultation closed on 2 October 2015.

What’s new?

The Government has published its response to its Consultation on the Apprenticeships Levy, available here. This response provides further details on the Levy and the arrangements for apprenticeship funding in England.

Key points are:

• the Levy will be set at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s paybill, to the extent that it exceeds £3million;
• it will be collected by HMRC through PAYE;
• Employers in England will be able to access funding through the Digital Apprenticeships system;
• The Government is liaising with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over their arrangements for giving employers access to the fund.