In 2017, the Government introduced the apprenticeship levy to put apprenticeship funding in employers’ hands and provide a broader scope of training opportunities.
The levy is charged at a rate of 0.5% of an organisation’s total pay bill of over £3 million, and each employer receives an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment.
Dalkia is proud to continue its relationship with Total People, a non-profit organisation and one of the largest providers of apprenticeships and work-based learning in the Northwest of England, by donating £50,000 of unused levy funds to help small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) support apprenticeships in the Engineering sector.
This is our second time of pledging. Our first pledge allowed us to support six future engineers within five SMEs, so we know it works and makes a real difference.
Clémence O’Connor, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Dalkia
Total People are currently campaigning to raise £1 Million in levy gifted funds in 200 days. Beckie Holmes, Total People’s Levy Gifting Manager, said, “This donation is really welcome and puts us over halfway to our goal. It is really going to help us make a difference to the future of young people’s lives.”
The Engineering industry continues to struggle with an increasing demand for skilled engineers. As a key player in this vital sector, we are playing our part in closing the industry’s skills gap by being able to not only invest in our own people, but indirectly in the employees of SMEs via the gifting of our unspent levy funds.
Clémence O’Connor, Dalkia’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, commented, “This is our second time of pledging. Our first pledge allowed us to support six future engineers within five SMEs, which allowed them either take on someone new or upskill an existing employee, so we know it works and makes a real difference.“