The Government recently announced that the existing apprenticeship frameworks are to be replaced by new standards.
One of the most significant changes, which George Osborne revealed in his autumn statement, is that funding for apprentices will now go directly through the employer rather than training providers.
Currently, a training provider will identify suitable apprenticeship candidates for an employer and then look after the administrative burden of claiming funding and the responsibility for the quality of the programme.
The chancellor also announced in his statement that employers will also need to make a significant cash contribution to their apprentices external training costs.
Therefore, there have been some concerns that employers may decide against taking on apprentices.
However, employers should not be deterred from using apprenticeship schemes despite the major changes that will be coming in to effect. Apprenticeship schemes are hugely beneficial to both the businesses and apprentices involved.
The new framework is expected to be introduced in 2015 and will be completed in 2018, therefore employers have a year in which they can carefully plan and adapt to the changes before they come into effect.
For more information on the changes to apprenticeship schemes, please visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk and for legal advice regarding the changes, please contact Joe Davison on 0151 264 7363 or email joe.davison@paulcrowley.co.uk