Over £1 million of unused apprenticeship levy has now been secured in levy transfers throughout Oxfordshire to open the door to new apprenticeship alternatives and expertise.

The levy transfers, facilitated by the Oxfordshire Native Enterprise Partnership’s (OxLEP) Expertise staff (OxLEP Expertise), type a part of a wider programme of exercise to help the creation of latest jobs and expertise throughout the native enterprise neighborhood.

Hitting this milestone signifies that OxLEP Expertise has now reached over 75% of its £1.3 million goal for levy pledges as a part of the Social Contract Programme. The £1.7 million initiative was arrange in Might 2022, launched as a part of quite a lot of measures aimed toward serving to Oxfordshire’s financial restoration from the pandemic.

The Social Contract Programme goals to spice up the county’s abilities and drive financial development, serving to native firms faucet into their apprenticeship levy and unlock new expertise of their workforce by coaching and evaluation.

This milestone achievement has been made doable by employers throughout the area participating within the scheme. Pledging their funding in apprentices, employers are opening the door to alternatives obtainable to them within the native space and serving to to retain expertise regionally.

The apprenticeship levy, paid by massive employers with an annual pay invoice of £3 million or extra, can select to switch as much as 25% of their levy funds annually to assist different companies pay for his or her apprenticeship coaching and evaluation.

Sally Andreou, Expertise Hub Supervisor at OxLEP, stated: “Hitting this £1 million goal is a serious milestone for the staff at OxLEP Expertise and we’re thrilled to have the help of so many native companies. These employers are making an actual distinction of their communities, supporting the amount and high quality of apprenticeships throughout the area by pledging their unused levy funds.

“Apprenticeships are a significant a part of our economic system, and by reinvesting apprenticeship levy funding we will help smaller companies within the county to develop their workforce and retain top quality expertise by serving to them to develop the abilities they want.

“We’ve got a rising listing of employers who’ve pledged their unused Levy a number of instances, together with Pearson, JDE Banbury and the College of Oxford. We encourage small companies in Oxfordshire who haven’t but taken benefit of the funds obtainable by the apprenticeship levy switch scheme to get entangled and unlock the door to a rising future workforce.”

One of many many organisations benefitting from the levy switch scheme in Oxfordshire is Hedena Well being. After making the most of the apprenticeship levy switch scheme in 2022, with help from OxLEP Expertise and the Thames Valley Major Care Workforce, Hedena Well being efficiently stuffed an apprenticeship place in Oxford with funding transferred from native massive employer JDE Banbury.