Last updated: 22 Apr 2024 10:30 Posted in:
The UK government is fully funding apprenticeships in small businesses by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21, with the aim of reducing costs for businesses and delivering more opportunities for young people to kick-start their careers.
The government said the funding initiative will remove the need for small employers to meet some of the cost of training and saves time and costs for providers like further education colleges who currently need to source funding separately from the government and businesses.
It said £60 million of new investment will fund up to 20,000 more apprenticeships.
From the start of April 2024, the government also increased the amount of funding that employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy can pass onto other businesses. Large employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to transfer up to 50% of their funds to support other businesses, including smaller firms, to take on apprentices.
This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing costs and enabling more employers to get the skilled workers they need while unlocking more opportunities for young people in a huge range of sectors, industries and professions, the government said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Growing up in my mum’s pharmacy, I know first-hand how important small businesses are. Not just for the economy, but as a driver for innovation and aspiration, and as the key to building a society where hard work is always recognised and rewarded.”
The Prime Minister also announced the setting up of a new industry-led Invest in Women Taskforce “to unlock private investment in female business leaders and make the UK the best place in the world to be a female founder”.
The government said: “For too long, innovative, women-led start-ups have been held back due to a lack of finance and the proportion of equity capital investment going to all-female founder teams has been stuck at around 2% in the UK for the past decade.
“The core aim of the Taskforce is to raise a bespoke funding pot for female-founded businesses through private capital and address the wider challenges that female entrepreneurs specifically face to help unlock their potential to establish and grow their enterprises.”
“The core aim of the Taskforce is to raise a bespoke funding pot for female-founded businesses through private capital and address the wider challenges that female entrepreneurs specifically face to help unlock their potential to establish and grow their enterprises.”
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister