In July 2020, the Government announced that it would be reforming and expanding the traineeships programme for young people in order to help them into work.
A traineeship is when an employer offers a range of courses to participants, including a work placement, in order to provide better job prospects to those aged 16-24 years old. Your client may already be aware that traineeships are not a new concept but because there has been a gradual decline in people starting them since 2018, 30,000 new traineeships in England have been pledged by the Chancellor involving classroom-based tuition in maths, English and CV writing. This is coupled with ‘high-quality’ 70 hours minimum of unpaid work experience which employers are not required to pay trainees for.
This initiative began in September 2020 with traineeships lasting between six weeks and six months, aimed at helping those leaving education to secure their first job.
It was recently published on the Government’s website that from 27 January 2021 employers can apply for a £1000 traineeship incentive grant under a new scheme set up to support young people in gaining the skills and experience they need to get a job, an apprenticeship or pursue further study. Your client can hire as many trainees as they want but will only be able to claim a grant of up to a maximum of 10 incentive payments; they can also claim the cash incentive for all work placements that have been completed since 1 September 2020.
Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Gillian Keegan explained that the funding, which is available until 31 July 2021 and is payable upon completion of each traineeship, will help businesses with the cost of providing a high-quality work placement for a trainee. This includes providing facilities, uniforms or helping with travel costs.
The registration forms and other details about how to comply with the scheme can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traineeship-employer-incentive-registration-form.
This new funding is in addition to the apprentice scheme announced last year, which offers employers £2000 for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and £1500 for apprentice aged 25 and over.
So far, young people have completed work placements in a range of industries including construction, education, and health and social care.
Source: Croner Taxwise