Funeral Service Times August 2017 May 2019 | Page 24

24 EDUCATION
The strength of
apprenticeships
Widely recognised by the trade as an important way to recruit people, why are some businesses still
ignoring the benefits of apprenticeships and missing out on their Apprenticeship Levy fund?
T
his year, Co-op Funeralcare
welcomed its 2,500th
apprentice after sticking to its
pledge and goal to recruit one
each day. Taking on an apprenticeship is
not a new concept to the funeral sector
and with the government putting extra
focus on them in recent years, the value
of an apprenticeship is becoming more
prominent.
The Apprenticeship Levy was
introduced by the government in 2017,
which is a UK tax on employers which can
be used to fund apprenticeship training.
The levy will only be paid on annual
paybills in excess of £3m, meaning the
majority of employers will not have to pay.
Non-levy payers can make a 10%
cash contribution to the cost of
apprenticeships to upskill existing staff,
and firms with less than 50 employees
can train 16-19 year old apprentices
without making any contribution.
However, it does affect 2% of firms
and although many do see the value in
recruiting apprentices as a way of getting
MAY 2019
more people working in the sector -
especially women and young people who
are generally underrepresented - others
are failing to make use of the money the
tax goes towards.
According to a study by the Open
University, just 19% of levy-paying
businesses made apprenticeship
commitments, using just 14% of the
available funds and leaving £3m unused.
Furthermore, research conducted by
the Association of Professional Staffing
Companies found that fewer than half
are currently using their levy funds, or
planning to do so in the next 12 months.
The fund for this year expires in May,
however companies have cited a number
of reasons for not making use of it
including: wanting to see changes to make
it more effective for their business; finding
the system confusing; not having time and
problems with available apprenticeships
not being flexible enough to meet their
needs.
As much as it may appear to be an
inconvenience to many, the advantages
can be invaluable to businesses as
apprenticeships can improve productivity
and staff retention. Funerary businesses
can also develop their own talent in-
house through such schemes, if they find
that prospective employees do not have
the required skills for the trade.
The funeral trade is known for being
caring and supportive and any businesses
which do not make use of this compulsory
tax can transfer a maximum of 25% of
their annual funds to non-levy paying
firms, thus, helping the funeral trade
to continue to welcome more people
to work in this important and valuable
sector. So even if a business does not
want to go through the processes or does
not find it works for them, there are ways
to ensure the money available does not
go to waste.
All in all, the low number of businesses
making use of the Levy fund suggest
this method of employment and training
needs to be better utilised and taken full
advantage of so all businesses can benefit
from it.
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk