Apprenticeship levy needs reform, says former education secretaries

JESSICA FRANK-KEYES

CALLS to link the apprenticeship levy to Britain’s immigration policy have been backed by three former education secretaries.

Lord David Blunkett, Sir Gavin Williamson and Nadhim Zahawi have lent support to a report calling for urgent changes to the government’s levy on firms to pay for apprenticeships – including linking the scheme to visa rules around occupations facing worker shortages.

A total of £4.3bn has been raised and gone unspent since 2018 due to barriers preventing small businesses making the most of the scheme, the Policy Exchange think tank says.

Zahawi, education secretary from

2021 to 2022, said: “Employers should be able to use the levy to train up home-grown talent – including on shorter and more flexible courses –instead of being forced to rely on immigration to fill these vacancies.”

A government spokesperson defended the levy, which they said “thousands of employers” make good use of.