Apprenticeships funding reform in England

This consultation is published in response to Doug Richard’s independent ‘Review of Apprenticeships’, which looked at how apprenticeships in England can meet the needs of the changing economy. It addresses Doug Richard’s recommendations for reforming the way Apprenticeships are funded.

The government has already endorsed the review recommendations, which aim to give employers more control over apprenticeships, and ensure that all apprenticeships are rigorous and responsive to employers’ needs. We consulted earlier on the ‘Future of Apprenticeships in England’ to encourage feedback on the practical steps needed to turn our proposals into reality. That consultation closed on 22 May 2013; we are currently considering the responses and will confirm our future approach and implementation plan in autumn 2013.

We intentionally did not address apprenticeship funding reform in the previous consultation. This consultation seeks your views on 3 ways of delivering funding reforms put forward by Doug Richard:

• a new online system for apprenticeships with payments to employers made directly from the system
• using the PAYE system
• reforming the existing funding arrangements