The Government has just introduced a new payroll tax in the form of an Apprenticeship Levy. Those businesses with an annual payroll bill in excess of £3 million will see their payroll costs increase by 0.5% – a substantial extra cost burden for any company affected, across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Despite the shock that this will be for many businesses there are opportunities too provided employers seek to fully understand implications early and plan in advance.

The good news is the incremental tax raised will be returned to the employer through an online account, along with an uplift of 10% from the government. But there is a catch. The employer can only spend the money on the delivery of apprenticeship-based training offered through an approved training provider. And if the funds are not used after 24 months the money is taken away. So you need to be prepared.

The way forward is for organisations to start thinking in terms of ‘funded development’. Businesses are going to need to consider where they can utilise apprenticeship-based training to meet future needs and to replace some of their existing training budgets.

For many organisations this will require looking carefully at their current skills base and what core programmes they are involved in, whether at an operational, supervisory, management or even board level. The key will be in trying to reverse-engineer those training goals into what can be delivered using these new funded frameworks. And this may be across a raft of levels – from basic Level 2 to degree.

At CMP Resolutions we have teamed up with SkillsLink, a specialist in the Apprenticeship Levy field, to support our existing and new clients deliver such Apprenticeship Levy solutions, maximising both value and return for their contributions. Integral within this package will be the leading conflict management training and support of CMP Resolutions, ensuring both your Apprenticeship Levy and conflict resolution needs are met at the same time.