Apprenticeship Grant for Employers recruiting 16 and 17 year olds January 2010

The National Apprenticeship Service will provide up to 5,000 Apprenticeship Grants for Employers recruiting 16 and 17 year olds (AGE 16 and 17) with a value of £2,500 to encourage employers to take on new 16-17 year old apprentices.

The National Apprenticeship Service are introducing a new Apprenticeship grant: AGE 16 and 17 – of £2,500 for up to 5,000 employers to enable them to create new places and take on an unemployed 16 or 17 year old apprentice immediately

The £2,500 is in addition to the cost of training which for young people (aged 16 – 18) is already fully met by the National Apprenticeship Service

Question. When will AGE 16 and 17 be available?

Answer. The grant will be available immediately.The National Apprenticeship Service recognise the particular issues faced by young people in the current economic climate and The National Apprenticeship Service want to support them and ensure that The National Apprenticeship Service are training a new generation for economic recovery.

This initiative is a short-term (available until the end of March 2010) measure and is available now for employers who are able to offer a job opportunity to an unemployed young person aged 16 or 17 immediately, reinforcing the focus on getting young people into Apprenticeship job opportunities now.

Question. What financial support is available to employers?

Answer. Employers will commit to taking on a new or additional apprentice in paid employment for the duration of their training. The minimum Apprenticeships wage requirement – £95 per week for 16-18 year olds – will apply.

In return up to 5,000 employers will receive an AGE 16 and 17 payment of £2,500 and NAS will cover the full cost of Apprenticeship training as it does now for 16 – 18 year olds.

The payment is a grant and is exempt from VAT.

Question. Which employers are eligible to receive this new AGE 16 and 17 grant?

Answer. Our aim is to support employers to offer new and additional places in support of young people. Therefore The National Apprenticeship Service want to target those employers who would not otherwise have been in a position to recruit an apprentice at this point in time or who are able to offer more Apprenticeship places than they would otherwise have done.

The National Apprenticeship Service particularly want to support small and medium sized employers who are interested in employing an apprentice for this first time, or who want to employ an additional apprentice over their traditional level of recruitment.

The National Apprenticeship Service can support larger employers 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.

Small public sector employers can receive the grant where this supports the organisation to achieve a more diverse workforce – in broad terms this will enable us to support schools and doctors surgeries, but it might also include small district councils etc.

Whilst larger public sector employers will not be directly eligible, The National Apprenticeship Service will want to encourage them to bring the grant to the attention of the smaller employers they work with to deliver public sector services and objectives such as worklessness.

The National Apprenticeship Service will also support those employers who already employ apprentices if they commit to employing more 16 and 17 year olds than they would otherwise have done.

There is not a limit to the number of apprentices that can be supported in any one employer – subject to affordability and commitment to support the apprentice to the end of their programme.

Employers will sign an agreement which will include:

1; Confirmation that they wouldn’t have taken the apprentice on without this additional incentive.
2; A commitment to employ the apprentice for the time it takes to achieve the Apprenticeship framework.
3; Confirmation that they are aware of and do not breach any State Aid rules.
4; Agreement to pay the minimum Apprenticeship salary of £95 per week
5; Agreement to refund the grant if the contract with the apprentice ends early.

Question. What about employers who have already taken on apprentices, or would have taken one on anyway?

Answer. Employers who committed to taking an apprentice before the campaign launched in January are not eligible for support.

Question. Can very large (over 5,000) employers be supported?

Answer. In exceptional circumstances, where they can demonstrate that they are overtraining to support small employers in their supply chain/ the wider sector, large employers could be considered for support.

Question. Which young people are eligible?

Answer. All 16 and 17 year olds who are not in employment or already on an Apprenticeship are eligible. This includes those that might have had a place in a college under the September guarantee, but subsequently dropped out.

The young person must start an Apprenticeship programme before their 18th birthday and by the 31st March 2010.

Young people on Programme Led Apprenticeships are not eligible as they are already on an Apprenticeship programme

Question. Are young people on a Programme Led Apprenticeship eligible?

Answer. No. Young people on Programme Led Apprenticeships are not eligible as they are already participating in an Apprenticeship programme.

Question. How will employers receive the AGE 16 and 17 grant?

Answer. As an approved training provider you will be responsible for processing payments to employers. Employers will receive two prompt payments – £1,500 when the young person starts their Apprenticeship programme and a further £1,000 after 12 weeks.

All funding needs to be committed before the end of March – no starts after the 31st March 2010 can be supported.

Question. What if the young person leaves – will the employer have to reimburse NAS all/any of the £2,500?

Answer. The employer will be asked to sign a standard agreement which commits them to employing a new or additional apprentice in paid employment for the duration of the Apprenticeship programme.

The employer will receive the first payment for £1,500 once the Individual Learner Record (ILR) is completed and a further £1,000 once the individual has completed 12 weeks of the Apprenticeship Programme.

If the apprentice leaves or is dismissed before week 12 the employer will not receive the second payment of £1,000.

If the apprentice leaves between weeks one and eight the training provider will normally recover £700.

If the employer terminates the apprentice’s contract or if the apprentice resigns betweeks 13 and 22 the training provider will normally recover all of the £1,000.

If the employer takes on another unemployed 16 or 17 year old as an apprentice within four weeks (at either of the two points described above) the training provider will not recover the grant.

Question. Will training providers have to recover the grant payments where the apprentice leaves or is dismissed?

Answer. Yes – The National Apprenticeship Service would ask the training provider to make best endeavours to recover the grant from the employer at the levels described above.

Further information can be found at www.apprenticeships.org.uk.