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The Government confirmed that it will extend and increase the payments made to employers in England who hire new apprentices. Employers who hire a new apprentice between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2021 will receive £3,000 per new hire, compared with £1,500 per new apprentice hire (or £2,000 for those aged 24 and under) under the previous scheme. This is in addition to the existing £1,000 payment the Government provides for all new 16-18 year-old apprentices and those aged under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan, where that applies. The Government also announced the introduction of a £7m fund from July 2021 to help employers in England set up and expand portable apprenticeships. This will enable people who need to work across multiple projects with different employers. Of equal significance to the sector, the Government said it had plans to make several changes to its highly skilled migration policy. It said it would modernise the immigration sponsorship system to make it easier to use and that they would publish a delivery roadmap in the summer. The budget papers also said that the Government would introduce an elite points-based visa by March 2022. Skills NEWS Tax The Chancellor confirmed in his March budget that corporation tax paid on profits will be increased to 25% in April 2023, saying it was “fair and necessary” to ask businesses to contribute to the economic recovery. While this figure was higher than expected, with an increase from the current 19% to 23% having been trailed, Sunak said the UK would still have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7 after the change. He added that only 10% of companies would have to pay the full 25% on profits, with the tax targeted towards larger, more profitable firms. The Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices The pandemic has had a seismic effect on the economy and some apprentices have beenmade redundant without completing their apprenticeships, others are at risk of redundancy. To support these apprentices and to assist employers, the Department for Education has recently launched the Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices. The service provides clear, accessible advice and guidance to individuals on the impact of redundancy, their options and next steps. The service is made up of three main elements: 1. Providing apprentices with advice and guidance on the impact of redundancy; 2. Signposting apprentices to local and national support services; and 3. An apprenticeship vacancy sharing service to make redundant apprentices aware of new opportunities. The Department for Education is asking if employers would be able to support redundant apprentices by sharing details of any apprenticeship vacancies they have. Apprentices that have been made redundant may already have the valuable skills and experience that your organisation needs. They are eager to continue their apprenticeship, put their learning into practice and can give organisations a quick return on investment. If you would like to recruit a redundant apprentice or offer new apprenticeship opportunities, please visit www.tinyurl.com/4uyjtxss or call 0800 015 0600 to find out more. If you are aware of any apprentices who have been made redundant please encourage them to visit www.tinyurl.com/ytccda45 or call 0800 015 0400 to speak to an adviser. SIG’s results Andy Murphy, Director at equity research firm, Edison Group analysed SIG’s performance over the past year, saying: “Performance of this company was hampered by COVID-19. However, despite underlying issues, revenue fell only 12.6% to £1.8bn and operating losses of £53.3m was better than consensus. Trading in H2 2020 improved, and in Q4, like for like growth was 4% ahead of the same period in 2019, pre-COVID, which suggests that management is beginning to deliver on its ‘return to growth’ strategy. Evidence of success of its strategy will become more evident as the year unfolds and we should see the business return to profitability in H2.” www.thefis.org 11