Council agrees to pass on unspent apprenticeship funds

Shropshire employers will soon be able to apply for council funding towards apprenticeships under a new scheme.

Members of Shropshire Council’s cabinet agreed on Monday to approve the transfer of up to 25 per cent of the authority’s apprenticeship levy fund to other businesses and third sector organisations in the county.

It means up to £149,542 can be passed on this financial year, contributing towards around 25 apprenticeships.

If cabinet members had not agreed the transfer, around £246,000 of ring-fenced funds were set to be lost this financial year, as any money left unspent in the levy pot after two years is retained by the government.

To ensure as much money as possible stayed within the county, Michele Leith, the council’s director of workforce and transformation, proposed transferring up to a quarter of the council’s fund – the maximum allowed by government – to other organisations.

Ms Leith said: “It’s up to 25 per cent, not a given 25 per cent. So if we had an increased requirement over the period we could spend that fund first.

“The real reason for putting this forward is if we are unable to spend it and we don’t out forward a transfer possibility, then we lose the money.

“This is about saying that apprenticeships are valuable to us and valuable to the people of Shropshire, so rather than it going back into the central government pot we are asking cabinet to agree to a transfer of up to 25 per cent of the 20/21 funds.”

The council pays around £600,000 a year into its apprenticeship levy fund, a government scheme that requires employers with an annual wage bill of more than £3 million to commit 0.5 per cent of their pay to the delivery of apprenticeships.

The government also provides a 10 per cent top-up to each levy-paying employer.

A report by Ms Leith said more than £90,000 of the council’s fund had already expired by June this year, with a further £156,000 expected to expire by next March if the transfer was not approved.

Councillor David Minnery, portfolio holder for finance, said: “I fully support the idea. The last thing we want to do is send any money back.”

Cabinet members voted unanimously to approve the transfer of up to 25 per cent of the fund.

The council has identified the health and social care, engineering and manufacturing, digital and creative, construction, visitor economy and education and childcare sectors as those from which applications will be prioritised.

Applicants will also be given weight for providing apprenticeships for people who are unemployed or have been made redundant due to the coronavirus pandemic, those in protected characteristic groups and those who are at risk of social exclusion, such as care leavers.