Government Incentives Update January 2022

The government introduced the apprenticeship incentive scheme to support businesses with the ongoing disruptions caused by Covid-19. So far, over 161,810 apprentices have been hired utilising the Government Incentive Scheme, and the employers doing the hiring are already enjoying the many benefits.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has this week announced some key updates for employers linked to the apprenticeship start dates. Employers now have until 31 March to enrol their apprentices onto programme to still qualify for the incentive payment.

What are the updates to eligibility?

1. Employers -can still claim the incentive payment if the new team member has an employment start date before 31 January 2022.
2. The apprenticeship start date has now been extended to 31 March 2022. This means that employers have from 31 January until 31 March to enrol the apprentice onto their programme.
3. The date for employers to submit an application to claim has now been extended to 15 May 2022.

Applying for an incentive payment for hiring a new apprentice – New hires from 1 Oct 2021

Other Government support videos

• Registering an account: https://youtu.be/NC3RzRrvgoc
• Adding an apprentice: https://youtu.be/8DMTHDcrz64

Apprenticeship Incentive Scheme Payment for Employers

As an employer hiring an apprentice, It will be your responsibility to apply for the Government Apprenticeship incentive payments. This is done using your apprenticeship service account, which you need to have set up before you can make a claim. Any requests after the 15 May 2022 deadline will not be paid.

Payments will be made in 2 equal instalments for each apprentice.

To be eligible, the apprentice must complete:

• 90 days of their apprenticeship for the first payment
• 365 days of their apprenticeship for the second payment

Payments will be made on the 14th working day of the month, and it can take up to 3 days for the payments to reach bank accounts.

What can the payments be used for?

Unlike the apprenticeship levy funds, this payment can be utilised on anything that supports your organisational costs. For example, uniforms, apprentice’s travel or salary.

The payment is in addition to the existing £1,000 an employer will already get for taking on an apprentice who is either:

• aged 16 to 18 years old
• under 25 and has an education, health and care plan or has been in the care of their local authority

This £1000 payment will be paid to your training provider, and you will receive it from them.

If you have questions about these changes, how to make a claim or you would just like to talk about how your business could benefit from these Incentives taking on a new apprentice, get in touch today on 08007832545.