Apprentices: Coronavirus

(asked on 14th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect apprentices whose employment has ceased as a consequence of COVID-19.


Answered by
Baroness Berridge Portrait
Baroness Berridge
This question was answered on 22nd December 2020

We are committed to supporting apprentices who have been made redundant as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, including enabling them wherever possible to continue and complete their apprenticeships.

We launched the Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices which provides clear, accessible advice and guidance to individuals, as well as a vacancy sharing scheme to help apprentices find new opportunities with employers. Over 1,000 employers have submitted opportunities to the vacancy sharing service for redundant apprentices.

We have also amended legislation to enable more apprentices to complete their apprenticeship in the event of redundancy. In addition to funding an apprentice’s training to completion if they have less than six months of their apprenticeship remaining at the point of redundancy, we have extended this provision to include any apprentice who has completed 75% or more of their apprenticeship at the point of redundancy.

Apprenticeships will be more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow. In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years, we are making available £2.5 billion for apprenticeships in England, double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year. To help employers offer new apprenticeships, including to those that have been made redundant, employers are now able to claim £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire under the age of 25, and £1,500 for those 25 and over, until 31 March 2021. We are extending the incentive payments available to employers taking on new apprentices until the end of this financial year, boosting job creation and supporting employers to invest in skills as the economy recovers.

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