The Labour party said the Tory government’s apprenticeship levy system is failing to provide enough skilled workers for 40,000 manufacturers and has pledged to change the way the levy is spent and to create a new body called 'Skills England'.
Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil his plan to change the apprenticeship levy to a “growth and skills levy” at a new STEM research centre in the South West, alongside shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
The apprenticeship levy taxes employers 0.5 per cent of their payroll each month if they have a wage bill of more than £3m a year. Businesses paying into the pot can use this money to fund apprenticeship training schemes.
Four leading trade bodies have called the apprenticeship system “broken” and have written to the government asking for reform.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC), UKHospitality, techUK and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation said the existing levy system is restrictive as...