Levy news from Govt in full discussion at Coventry conference hosted by Lindsay McCurdy Oct 27

Lindsay McCurdy put on the levy conference at Coventry days after govt released the first papers on delivery, perfect timescales for a master class in how the HMRC April 2017 levy collections will be delivered by providers for employers, large and small, levy and none levy players all explained. Levy paying employers who spend their pot can then claim 90% subsidy for further training. A full house extravaganza of all things you need for levy, employers and providers getting ready for May 2017 delivery.. Whistl, Tarmac and Stobart amongst the big employer attendees for transport.

Conf chair at the full house event in Coventry, Tony Allen,

Employers are very interested in higher standards to spend their levy. There is only one month to the first deadline for getting on the apprenticeship register, you have until Nov 25th!

Carl Lomas LSA chair,

Express trailblazer is in development at level 6 for degree apprenticeship and the level two standard is in final edit for express final mile delivery’ Final mile will get a one stop shop for all, driver to manager, FE and HE. 90% subsidy for none levy SMEs and the same subsidy for the large companies when they use their existing pot of funding, It looks good for the next generation workforce in our exploding sector of e-retail home delivery, final mile courier. Time is not on our side, our sector in peak will then need to be ready by April 17.

Bhavena Patel, - Standards - senior relationship manager for SFA,

New standards should be simple and there to drive quality, driven by an appetite for sector where voluntary time is available to develop the standards. The new standards should set out knowledge and behaviour for the job roles in two pages. Employers will identify the end point assessment bodies and engage them.

Una Bennett , - levy funding - deputy director for funding systems SFA,

A lot of documentation published this week. For levy payers the first payments will appear on the digital service around May 20th 2017. Govt will add their ten per cent top up. None levy payers will go to providers who have SFA contracts and 90 % payment from govt.  Employers will contribute their ten per cent by provider invoicing that will have similar practice to the existing systems. 20% of funding will be held back for completion payments. Expire date for levy funds lost if not spent is extended from 18 months to two years. A thousand pound support payment for 16-18 year olds is there and further fundng for the disadvantaged. Funding bands will remain similar to existing rates. Providers may have subcontractors and end point assessment will be included in the initial contract the employer signs up to.

Una went on to talk about the new register for those who will provide apprenticeship training from the trailblazer standards, (deadline is Nov 25th 5pm) Providers can register, employers delivering their own provision can register and there is a supporting route for small provision to register. Safeguarding and protect will be in the registration requests on the governments Bravo application software, those with an Ofsted four cannot register. Fast run of slides followed to showcase the digital platform for levy that will list monthly contributions, cost, spend and subsidies for each employer who have a gateway similar to their existing PAYE platform and pass words.

Q&A hosted by Tony Allen for the SFA master class was a healthy run of hands high. Snapshot of the big answers - A levy payer spending over their account is subsidised at 90%  - 20% of payments will be held back for completion and the end point assessment. – There is no cap to funding that runs beyond the employers levy pot. – One question centred around choosing a provider, Una replied, the provider list has not yet opened, we can’t guarantee who will be on it at this time.’

Express Trailblazer Secretary Carl Lomas LSA Chair talks levy pot with SFA Deputy Director Una Bennett