Today’s Budget announced a new “flexi-job” apprenticeship programme to be created from a £7 million fund, which will enable apprentices to work with several employers in one sector. The Treasury has indicated that this was aimed at sectors such as film and television.
Responding to changes to apprenticeships, Seetha Kumar, CEO ScreenSkills, the skills body for the UK’s screen industries, said:
“We know that apprenticeships, which offer the chance to earn while learning, can be really important in opening up opportunities to a greater diversity of talent so have been strong advocates of changes to make them work better in the screen industries. We welcome the new flexi-job apprenticeship which should make it easier for companies of all sizes to take on apprentices and look forward to working with government on the proposal for new sector agencies to implement this successfully.”
There will also be an increase in the incentive to employers to hire an apprentice which will be £3,000 per hire.
ScreenSkills has been a strong advocate for greater flexibilities in the apprenticeship system. We will continue to advocate for more radical reforms on the Apprenticeship Levy, while regarding today’s announcement as a constructive step towards making the apprenticeship system work more effectively.
Our planned apprenticeship programme with Netflix and Warner Bros. is expected to go ahead later this year. The changes to the apprenticeship system are not expected to be implemented until 2022.