'The structure and implementation of the apprenticeship levy has acted as a barrier and brake to skills development'
The number of people starting apprenticeships under the government’s flagship scheme has dropped by nearly a quarter, official figures show.
The apprenticeship levy was introduced a year ago to help create three million apprentices by 2020 – but figures show a 24 per cent drop in people starting in-work training in the first half of the academic year.
Employers have been left frustrated by the “restrictions and inflexibility” of the government’s complex scheme since it was introduced in April 2017, the British Chambers of Commerce has said.
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Business leaders call for apprenticeship levy reform
The government figures show the number of apprenticeship starts between August 2017 and January was 206,100, compared to 269,600 at the same point last year – a decrease of 24 per cent.
And in January, apprenticeship starts were down by 31 per cent compared to same period last year.
This week, Chancellor Philip Hammond admitted during treasury questions that there were fewer apprenticeship starts than they expected since introducing the levy one year ago.
Last month, research by the Institute of Directors (IoD) revealed that only one in seven employers thought the levy was fit for purpose.
It found that fewer than one in five employers will use contributions from the levy to take on more apprentices.
Jane Gratton, head of skills at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said the latest figures reflected “the damaging impact” that the levy is having on training new people.
She said: “Business communities recognise that apprenticeships are a crucial tool for shaping the skills of tomorrow, but since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy they have expressed frustration at the restrictions and inflexibility of the system.
“While the aim of the levy is laudable, its structure and implementation have acted as a barrier and brake to skills development.”
Speaking at a conference on apprenticeships in London, Ms Gratton called on the government to urgently work with business to reform the levy to make it workable for businesses.
“At a time of critical skills shortages, it’s crucial that we get this right,” she said.
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
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1/50 19 April 2018
A young boy cools off in the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester
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2/50 18 April 2018
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes a selfie with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at City Hall in London, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. They discussed gender equality and issues affecting young people with London school children.
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3/50 17 April 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May hosts a meeting with leaders and representatives of Caribbean countries, at 10 Downing Street on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
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4/50 16 April 2018
Aneira Thomas, the first baby to be born on the NHS, addresses the Unison Health Conference at the Brighton Centre
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Sir Patrick Stewart addresses the crowd during the People's Vote campaign launch on Brexit at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town.
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Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at Downing Street following British military action, alongside US and France, against Syria. British jets fired missiles at a Syrian military base suspected of holding chemical weapons ingredients.
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7/50 13 April 2018
England's Katarina Johnson-Thompson celebrates after winning the heptathlon with compatriot and bronze medal winner Niamh Emerson during the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
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8/50 12 April 2018
Quaker Alan Pinch makes tea for passers-by as he holds a protest in Manchester against UK military intervention in Syria
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9/50 11 April 2018
A man pulls the flowers down from a fence opposite the house of Richard Osborn-Brooks in South Park Crescent in Hither Green, London. The shrine has become an unlikely flashpoint of tensions between the grieving family and his neighbours since last week's incident where burglar Henry Vincent was killed by Richard Osborn-Brooks at his house.
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10/50 10 April 2018
Jonathan Powell, Lord John Alderdice, Lord David Trimble, Sir Reg Empey, Lord Paul Murphy of Torfaen and (front row left to right) Professor Monica McWilliams, Seamus Mallon, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Senator George Mitchell and Gerry Adams, at an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at Queen's University in Belfast.
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11/50 9 April 2018
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn gesture during the launch of Labour's local election campaign in central London.
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Hungarians queue to vote in their country's general election, in central London.
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Orthodox Jews show support for a protest outside Downing Street in London, after at least nine Palestinians were shot and killed by the Israeli army at the Gaza-Israel border.
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Charlie Tanfield of England celebrates winning gold in Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit Finals, alongside Scottish silver medalist John Archibald and New Zealand's Dylan Kennett with the bronze at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Australia.
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15/50 5 April 2018
Tributes for Ray Wilkins outside Stamford Bridge. The former Chelsea and England midfielder, who won 84 caps for his country, died in hospital on Wednesday morning following a cardiac arrest last Friday.
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Alistair Brownlee, flag bearer of England, arrives with the team during the Opening Ceremony for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium.
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Police at the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot on Monday evening and left in a critical condition in Markhouse Road in Walthamstow, east London.
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Roads are cleared in Nenthead, Cumbria, as five weather warnings are in place as heavy rain and snow affect swathes of the country on Easter Monday.
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Former Spitfire pilot Squadron Leader Allan Scott, 96, prepares to fly as a passenger in a Spitfire watched by Mary Ellis, 101, the oldest surviving member of the Air Transport Auxillary wing who flew over 400 Spitfires during the Second World War, as part of the RAF100 commemorations at Biggin Hill Airport..
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20/50 31 March 2018
The cortege arrives at Great St Marys Church, where the funeral of theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking is being held, in Cambridge.
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21/50 30 March 2018
A wooden cross is carried up Roundhill in Bath, Wiltshire, where several Christian Church congregations take part in the Walk of Witness to imitate the journey that Jesus took carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem on Good Friday.
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22/50 29 March 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May meets a local parents and toddler group at St Andrew's Heddon-on-the-Wall, CofE Primary School during a tour of the UK timed to coincide with one year to go until Britain leaves the European Union. May is on a tour with a promise to keep the country "strong and united" one year before Brexit.
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23/50 28 March 2018
Catalan independence supporters protest outside Edinburgh Sherriff Court where Clara Ponsati is appearing. The pro-independence Catalan politician handed herself to Scottish Police as she is being sought by the Spanish government, who have accused her of violent rebellion and misappropriation of public funds.
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24/50 27 March 2018
Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks about Brexit at a Leave Means Leave event at Carlton House Terrace, London.
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25/50 26 March 2018
The coffin of Kenneth White, an RAF veteran who died with no known family, is carried into Cambridge City Crematorium ahead of his funeral. A Facebook appeal was launched for people to attend the funeral of Mr White, who died at the age of 84. Over 100 strangers turned up to his funeral.
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26/50 25 March 2018
The Unveiling of Project 84, to represent the 84 men who commit suicide per week in Britain, eighty-four individual sculptures are placed on roofs, 12 of the sculptures are positioned on the roof of the This Morning Studio and the remaining 72 are standing on the roof of the ITV Studios Tower.
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27/50 24 March 2018
Cambridge men and women celebrate together after their double victory over Oxford in the 2018 boat race.
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Michel Barnier kisses Theresa May's hand as they arrive at the EU Summit in Brussels.
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29/50 22 March 2018
Emergency services workers lay flowers and pay their respects at Parliament Square in Westminster on the anniversary of the Westminster Bridge attack in London.
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30/50 21 March 2018
The Fishing for Leave boat passes the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames, during a protest where fish were discarded into the Thames.
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31/50 20 March 2018
Houses sit on the cliff edge on The Marrams in Hemsby, as thirteen homes on the sandy cliffs have been evacuated amid fears they could topple into the sea, with further high tides and strong winds forecast. The residents of the properties in Norfolk were forced to leave over the weekend, Great Yarmouth Borough Council said.
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32/50 19 March 2018
Activists show their support outside of Chelmsford Crown Court for the ‘Stansted 15’, a group prosecuted under terrorism-related charges after blocking a mass deportation charter flight in April 2017
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Sadiq Khan, Imelda Staunton, Gloria Hunniford at the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade in London.
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Fans make their way through a snow shower to Molineux Stadium ahead of the Sky Bet Championship match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burton Albion. Amber warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office ahead of a cold snap dubbed the "mini beast from the east".
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35/50 16 March 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz visit a Battle of Britain bunker at RAF Northolt in Uxbridge.
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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May talks with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard as she is shown the police tent covering the bench in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered on March 4, following an apparent nerve agent attack. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury.
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37/50 14 March 2018
A man prepares to lay flowers outside Gonville and Caius College, at Cambridge University following the death of British physicist, Stephen Hawking, who was a fellow of the University for over 50 years. The flag over the college flew at half-mast as students and academics came to pay tribute after his death.
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The crowd looks on during Cheltenham Festival Champion Day.
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A police officer on duty near a protective tent which covers the bench where a man and woman were apparently poisoned with what was later identified as a nerve agent, in Salisbury.
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Protesters against the Turkish war on Syrian Kurds in Afrin block the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly station bringing rail services in and out of the terminal to a halt.
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Royal Air Force Police dog Tornado leaps through a set of hoops on day three of the Crufts dog show at the NEC Arena in Birmingham.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, during a visit to Abertay University in Dundee, prior to his address to delegates at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in the city's Caird Hall.
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Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson sits with Year 1 pupils during a visit to St Leonard's Church of England Primary Academy in Hastings.
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Electronic billboards show adverts for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the hashtag ‘#ANewSaudiArabia’ in London.
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A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi close to The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, which was closed in connection to the ongoing major incident sparked after a man and a woman were found critically ill on a bench at the shopping centre on 4 March.
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46/50 5 March 2018
Gary Oldman, winner of the Best Actor award for 'Darkest Hour,' poses with his award in the press room during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Great Britain's Andrew Pozzi celebrates winning the men's 60m hurdles final as Aries Merritt of United States looks dejected during the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham.
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48/50 3 March 2018
People playing with their sledges in Greenwich Park, east London, as the cold weather continues around the country.
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Theresa May delivers a speech about her vision for Brexit at Mansion House.
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50/50 1 March 2018
'The Couple', a sculpture by Sean Henry, braves the snow in Newbiggin-By-The-Sea in Northumberland, as storm Emma, rolling in from the Atlantic, looks poised to meet the Beast from the East's chilly Russian air.
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On the levy, Seamus Nevin, head of policy research at IoD, said: "There have been major problems with putting the funds to use in the ways and places they are needed most.
"While the intention behind the policy is right, today's stats reinforce why we need a change in how the levy is implemented.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our reforms to the apprenticeship system are about increasing the number of quality apprenticeships, so people of all ages and backgrounds can take advantage of the opportunities apprenticeships bring.
“We have recently seen an increase in the number of people starting on higher level apprenticeships, such as engineering and law, and on our new quality apprenticeship standards.
“These new apprenticeships are designed by employers themselves to meet their needs, and in a range of industries such as fashion, banking and defence.”
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