At a press conference in Enfield, North London today [Thursday 20
August], Reform UK Shadow Education and Skills Secretary has fired the starting
gun on a Skills Revolution which aims to lead to 600,000
apprenticeship starts a year by the end of the first term of a
Reform UK government.
In a major funding change for British apprenticeships, Mrs
Braverman has announced a new Apprenticeship Wage Credit,
offering SMEs a 30% rebate on the wages of apprentices they take
on who are aged 16-18. This is expected to save the average SME
more than £4,000 per year per apprentice, or over £8,000 across
the lifetime of an apprenticeship.
She has also announced that a Reform UK government would
introduce the Apprenticeship Retention Bonus. This bonus of
£2,000 per worker will be paid to workers when they've completed
two additional years of work at the firm they apprenticed with.
This will reassure employers that the workers they invest in will
stick around.
The current apprenticeship system is broken. There are 140,000
fewer apprenticeships being undertaken compared to 2017.
Excluding COVID, the number of apprenticeships being started has
fallen to its lowest point since 2011/12. New apprenticeships
have fallen by 40% in manufacturing, engineering and plumbing,
60% in painting and decorating, and 75% in health and social
care.
Reform UK Shadow Education, Skills and Equality Secretary
MP said:
If you want to work hard and in a sector of national importance,
Reform UK will invest in you and back you every step of the way.
The Apprenticeship Wage Credit buys into a young person's future
and invests in their career early. My message to young people is
simple, your success is our country's success and we want a stake
in it. We are on your side and that is why we are willing to
invest in you right at the beginning of your career.
The Apprenticeship Wage Credit is a huge step change that
dramatically rethinks how we treat homegrown vocational and
technical skills. If we want skilled British workers the
Government must be prepared to step up and stand shoulder to
shoulder with business. Therefore, the government will fund 30%
of each British apprenticeship started at a qualifying SMEs.
I want an economic and social renaissance, not because it fills
me with jingoistic pride but because this country needs it. We
need a restoration and renewal of this country, so that once
again, we are training up our own with the skills that we all
need to be a functioning country. We will do this by
shifting funding into further vocational and technical education.
Our targets are ambitious, a record 600,000 new apprentice starts
per year by the end of our first term in office will not be easy,
but I did not join Reform UK because I wanted an easy life, I
joined because we need to rip up the rule book and deliver a
Skills Revolution to save this country from the abyss.
Managing Director of McLoughlin Group Holdings Kevin
McLoughlin said:
We need an apprenticeship policy that will incentivise the SMEs
that keep Britain running. I was an apprentice myself and
now as a business owner I know a 30% reduction in the cost of
employing an apprentice shows Reform are serious about investing
in young people and lowering the cost of running a business. The
Apprenticeship Wage Credit shows Reform UK are prepared to invest
in young people and the skills this country needs.
These measures are expected to cost between £1.5-2 billion over
the course of a 5-year parliament. The cost will be partially
covered by making significant savings from banning all foreign
students from accessing taxpayer-funded loans and cracking down
on taxpayer-funded Mickey Mouse degrees from third-rate
universities.
Notes to editors:
- Please click here for the full
policy document.
- Our tax credit focuses on businesses with a pay bill of under
£3 million that do not pay the Apprenticeship Levy.
