The House of Lords Communications and Digital committee has written to British prime minister Boris Johnson calling on him to give Britain’s creative industries more help to provide high-quality apprenticeships for young people.
The letter states that the Apprenticeship Levy, a tax on employers which can be used to fund apprenticeship training, is not working for trades including TV production, theatres, advertising, and journalism.
The committee says that businesses should be able to pool funds through industry training agencies, and be allowed to spend some of the funds on apprentices’ wages or other costs of employing young people.
The committee said it was “encouraged” by the prime minister’s commitment to reform the apprenticeship levy in a speech last month, but wants to see more details of government proposals.
Lord Gilbert of Panteg, chair of the Communications and Digital Committee, said:
“Our world-leading creative industries can offer young people highly rewarding jobs.
“However, the Apprenticeship Levy has so far failed to exploit these opportunities. Its inflexibility has made it difficult for small businesses and those running short-term projects to use the scheme.”
