New Tesco report reveals that reform to the Apprenticeship Levy could lead to an additional 8,000 new apprenticeships across the retail sector every year, with 500 at Tesco alone.
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The challenges of the pandemic have affected every person, every business and every community across the UK. As the UK lays the foundations for economic recovery, Tesco recognises the important role it needs to play.
A new report for Tesco, produced by Public First, sets out the retailer’s contribution at a national level and in every constituency across the UK and allows the Company to identify the actions that will have a lasting positive impact on its customers, colleagues, and communities.
One key finding is that simple reforms to the Apprenticeship Levy could get thousands more young people into employment. Strict rules on how funds are spent mean that businesses like Tesco, are currently unable to use the Apprenticeship Levy for any broader training, short courses or to ensure we can equally offer apprenticeships across all store types.
Tesco is calling on the Government to urgently take action and increase flexibility for businesses to make better use of the Apprenticeship Levy.
Tesco is the largest private sector employer in the UK, with over 300,000 colleagues. But its reach goes far beyond that. Today’s report shows that, working across its extended supply chain and support for local economic demand, Tesco supports £53 billion for the UK economy, and nearly 1 million jobs.
Young people, and particularly those in lower-affluent areas, have been disproportionately affected by pandemic. Against this backdrop is the disappointing revelation that in the five months to January 2021, the number of apprenticeships declined 18% year on year, with 36,700 fewer places*.
Tesco’s ambition is to increase the opportunities for young people to start their careers and build valuable skills. In the UK, one in five adults has worked in a supermarket at some point in their lives. For many, it’s an important steppingstone in their career and thanks to the vital work of supermarket colleagues during the pandemic, nearly 80% of the population consider them to be “key workersâ€.
Tesco is proposing three reforms:
Allow up to 10% of Levy funds to be used to support high quality pre-employment and pre-apprenticeship programmes.
Allow funds to be spent on high-quality shorter courses.
Allow 10% of Levy funds to be used to cover a portion of apprenticeship costs outside of training. This would enable smaller stores and companies to significantly expand the amount of apprenticeships they offer.
This flexibility would also allow Tesco and other retailers to offer more tailored training courses to help more people learn retail-specific skills, such as driving. It would also enable Tesco to offer courses that develop pre-employability skills or even functional skills like English and Maths. It would also boost productivity by expanding the number of apprenticeships that smaller stores could offer. ■