Levy Gifting - What Is It And Why Should You Do It?
ELA Training Services Ltd
OFSTED GOOD PROVIDER - Fostering an improvement culture through high quality, accredited Apprenticeship training.
What is Levy Gifting??
A 2019?Freedom of Information request led by the Department for Education?resulted in the realisation that?only around 30% of the Levy funds being raised were being used. With the purpose of the Apprenticeship Levy?revolving around increasing apprenticeships to address skill shortages and improve staff retention, the considerable?surplus seemed counter-productive. That is when the UK Government came up with a solution – Levy Gifting.?
Levy Gifting allows large levy-paying employers to ‘gift’?up to?25% of their?unspent?annual levy to other organisations to cover costs of apprenticeship training and assessments. According to the?January 2022?“Apprenticeships: Levy Transfers”?practice guide by the British Chamber of Commerce, Gifting can “support new apprenticeship starts (which includes existing staff) or where the apprentice’s employer has changed.”?
How Does Levy Gifting Work??
Having established that the transfer allowance for Levy Gifting is up to 25%?of your Levy funds from the preceding financial year, one must understand who can be the recipients of the transfer. According to gov.uk, the choice is left to the employers –?they?get to decide who receives their unspent funds, regardless of whether those businesses pay the levy or not.?
领英推荐
Furthermore, it is important to note that?said employers will not be held accountable for anything other than the payment of the funds – aspects relevant to the apprentices’ employment, for example, will not be the?gifter’s?responsibility.?
The Importance of Levy Gifting?
Total People’s Levy Gifting Manager, Leanne Shackleton notes that Gifting has afforded employers an opportunity to support their Corporate Social Responsibility agendas, aby making a significant and local economic and social impact to the organisations they support with Levy transfers.?
This approach allows employers to choose how their unspent Levy is used, to help address skills shortages in specific sectors and regions, and encourage further onboarding of apprentices. Not only that, the BCC practice guide lists the benefits to include how transfers help establish connections within supply chains and promote apprenticeship training among SMEs.?
Suffice it to say,?Levy Gifting is a great way to exercise corporate social responsibility by?supporting other?organisations and their employees in particular skills, sectors, or local areas that you’d like to fund. To find out how to gift or access Levy funds, call ELA?today?on 0208 017 1425?or email?us at?[email protected]?