Jan 31st, 2024
2 mins
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) along with the National Farmers Union (NFU), UK Hospitality (UKH), and UK supermarkets, have published a joint letter calling on Government to reform the ‘broken’ Apprenticeship Levy system and address labour shortages in food supply chains.
The letter argues that the Apprenticeship Levy should be broadened, allowing businesses to train up more domestic workers in order to fill the vital skills gaps, which would “foster greater resilience, support the nation’s food security, and benefit the economy.”
Currently, businesses are required to contribute hundreds of millions of pounds into a pot, while funds can only be spent in a very restrictive way. For example, businesses cannot use the money to fund any courses that are shorter than one year in duration. This inflexibility has cost the UK many thousands of training opportunities and billions of pounds of potential investment into the British labour market at a time when it is urgently needed.
More information, along with a link to the letter can be found https://brc.org.uk/news/corporate-affairs/secure-uk-food-supply-through-levy-reform/
