To recognise the particular issues faced by young people in the current economic climate, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) has announced this week that it will provide up to 5,000 apprenticeship grants with a value of £2,500 each to encourage employers to take on unemployed 16 & 17 year olds as apprentices.
The grant will be available immediately but is a short-term initiative (available until the end of March 2010) to ensure that we are training a new generation for economic recovery. The £2,500 grant is in addition to the costs of training which are already met by the NAS.
The aim of the initiative is to support small and medium-sized employers that would not otherwise have been in a position to recruit an apprentice now. It is designed for both employers who are interested in employing an apprentice for the first time, or who want to employ an additional apprentice over their traditional level of recruitment.
Larger employers can also benefit where they can demonstrate that they are overtraining to support smaller employers in their supply chain/the wider sector or recruiting in excess of their traditional levels of apprentice recruitment.
Grant payments will be administered by the NAS through their training provider network who will manage the payments and paperwork. Employers will receive the grant in two payments - £1,500 when the young person starts their apprenticeship and a further £1,000 after 12 weeks. The NAS will help employers to find a suitable training provider to deliver the training programme and to recruit an apprentice.
Employers will be asked to sign commit to employing a new or additional apprentice for the duration of the apprenticeship training programme, on at least the minimum apprenticeship wage of £95 per week, including off the job training. If the apprentice leaves early, the employer will be asked to repay a proportion of the grant.
All 16 & 17 year olds who are not in employment or already on an apprenticeship programme are eligible (this includes those who may have had a place in a college or school but have subsequently dropped out). The young person will need to have been recruited and in work before the end of March 2010.
For more information please visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk or call 08000 160 500.
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Related contacts
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Voltimum UK&Ireland
Braywick House East
Windsor Road
Maidenhead
SL6 1DN
Telephone: 00 (44) 1628 508500
Fax: 00 (44) 1628 508540 |
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Source: SummitSkills - 20/01/10 |
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