Growth Works with Skills are working with employers across Cambridge and Peterborough to build a local SKILLS FUND, to enable local small employers who don’t have access to the apprenticeship levy to offer an apprenticeship in their organisation with the training costs of an apprenticeship paid for by this fund.

• Many employers who have created an apprenticeship programme for their own staff do not use the full value of their apprenticeship levy each month. Each monthly levy contribution paid by a levy employer is available to use for 24 months, after which point it expires and the unused funds are returned to HM Treasury. As an alternative, these unused funds can be donated to another employer not paying the levy to pay for the training for an apprentice in their own organisation.
• Levy transfers not only invest in the skills for local businesses helping them to grow, they increase the pool of skilled people in the local working community.
• Employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy each month can donate up to 25% of their annual levy value to fund the apprenticeship training costs for other organisations through the SKILLS FUND. They can make transfers from their apprenticeship account to as many employers as they choose and transferred funds will be used to pay for the training and assessment cost of the apprenticeships agreed with the receiving employer.
• Donor employers can use their levy transfers to support new apprenticeships in any organisation with over 50 employees and who are not paying the apprenticeship levy themselves. This might fund an apprenticeship training in a local community employer, in their direct supply chain or support local charity and third sector employers or to support a specific occupation where there are hard to fill vacancies of other skills gaps locally.

Levy transfers fund every apprenticeship available  - at any level, and for any occupation from entry level posts for young people in their first career or to train specialists and professional occupations through a degree apprenticeship.

Receiving a Levy Transfer from the Skills Fund

• Funding transferred to other employers through our SKILLS FUND is draw down by the provider chosen by the receiving employer each month over the life of each apprenticeship from the donor employer’s Apprenticeship Service online account. Receiving employers pay the wages and all other costs for their apprentice , and are responsible for ensuring that the requirements for an apprenticeship are met. Apprentices can be a new member of staff recruited to a vacancy, or an existing staff member starting a new apprenticeship as a result of the levy transfer.
• Receiving a transfer from the SKILLS FUND means that a receiving employer will also need to create an apprenticeship service online account to enable the donor employer to transfer funds – this happens automatically every month and the provider chosen to deliver the apprenticeship is paid each month from this new account.
• If the apprenticeship stops for any reason, the provider simply stops the monthly claim. Funding does not have not be paid back to the sending employer for any reason because the training up to this point has already taken place. if the employer donor runs out of money, you must make the relevant employer co-investment contribution – this is 5% of the cost of the apprenticeship each month

Find out more

Growthworks with Skills provides support for donating and receiving employers to use the apprenticeship levy transfer process.

If you would like to find out more about how to donate to the Cambridge and Peterborough SKILLS FUND and help a small employer train an apprentice or if you are an employer and just want to know more about apprenticeships and how the SKILLS FUND  levy transfers work, join one of our webinars or email us: [email protected]

You can also read more about levy transfers for donating and receiving employers.