Speaking during the Conservative Party Conference at the beginning of October, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the commitment to extend the government’s cash incentive for employers to hire apprentice’s, until the end of January 2022.
What is the Government Cash Incentive?
In a bid to stick to the government’s promise to do whatever it takes to recover from the economic shock of Covid-19; the treasury has offered businesses a cash bonus if they hire apprentice’s. For every apprentice hired by a business, the company will receive £3,000 from the treasury and do not have to pay the money back.
The original offer was first introduced in August 2020, alongside the governments Kickstart scheme. The financial bonuses came to an end in September 2021, but have now been extended by four months, as the government doubles down on it’s commitment to supporting both businesses and job seekers.
The cash incentive is on top of the existing £1,000 employers will already receive for taking on apprentices aged between 16.-18 years old, as well as, apprentices under 25 years old with a care/education plan or under their local authority’s care.
How Apprentice Cash Incentives Can Be Spent by Businesses
Businesses can spend this money on anything that supports their companies expenses, such as uniforms or their apprentice’s travel and/or salary.
Payment and Eligibility
For each individual apprentice, the government will send businesses 2 equal payment instalments. In order for a business to be eligible, their apprentice must complete 90 days of their apprenticeship to receive the first payment and 365 days of their apprenticeship for the second payment.
All payments will be issued on the 14th working day of the month.
How to Apply
Applications close on 30 November 2o21 for apprentices who started their employment and have an apprenticeship start date between 1 April 20201 – 30 September 2021. For apprentices with an employment start date from 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022, applications will open in January 2022.
Businesses that want to apply for the cash incentive can do so on the government website, by completing an application form. Before submitting the application form, businesses must ensure that their apprentices have already been added to their separate apprenticeship service account.
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