Government invests £500m to upskill small businesses

Hundreds of small businesses and learners across the UK have been given a boost worth almost £500m as the government is to award apprenticeship contracts today (December 21).

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is providing apprenticeship training to non-levy paying employers. Each of these employers does not pay the apprenticeship levy because they have an annual pay bill of less than £3m.

This is to ensure that more people of all ages and backgrounds will have the opportunity to get into skilled employment. Employers looking to find an apprenticeship provider can do so through find apprenticeship training, which will be updated in January 2018.

Apprenticeships and skills minister, Anne Milton, said: “We are investing in our workforce to make sure there is no barrier on anyone’s ambition and that employers have the skilled workforce they need.

“The investment announced today will ensure that all businesses are able to benefit from high-quality apprenticeship training provision.”

The scheme follow a procurement process, designed to ensure the sustainable, ongoing provision of apprenticeship training for employers and learners over the next 15 months. Over 1,000 providers have submitted bids. The initial procurement totalled £485m.

Contracts for the non-levy funding for such small businesses will run between January 2018 and April 2019.

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