All employers who have an annual wage bill of over £3 million are required to pay an “apprenticeship levy”, a percentage of their total pay bill which is paid to HMRC.

The apprenticeship levy came into force on 6 April 2017 and was introduced by the Government in order to address the shortage of skilled workers in the UK, by increasing the number of apprenticeship opportunities offered by employers – levy funding is used to fund apprenticeship training and assessment.

At Warrington Borough Council, we are using our apprenticeship levy to invest in high-quality training, helping to further develop our organisation and provide the skilled workforce needed to thrive and succeed. In addition we can now transfer some of our apprenticeship levy to support other eligible employers in providing apprenticeships. This is known as an apprenticeship levy transfer.

Are you eligible to apply for an apprenticeship levy transfer?

Organisations receiving a transfers must either be non-levy payers or have fully committed their own levy funds in order to apply for additional funds. The funding can be used to train an existing employee or a new recruit.

The Council is particularly keen to welcome applications for apprenticeship levy transfer funding from smaller businesses or charitable, community and voluntary sector organisations who are creating apprenticeship opportunities which support one of the following:

  • Disadvantaged groups who live in the borough of Warrington, for example those with disabilities or health conditions, the unemployed, care leavers, NEETs.
  • Key employment sectors (health and social care; STEM, digital and creative; construction; visitor economy; education and childcare; hospitality and retail),
  • Young people with no access to other funding opportunities.
  • Opportunities for higher level skills (Level 3 or above).

For further information please see our Policy and Guidance documents

How to apply for an apprenticeship levy transfer

If you satisfy the criteria for making an application then please complete visit the ESFA application levy transfer platform Find a business to fund training for your apprentices (manage-apprenticeships.service.gov.uk) and search for Warrington Borough Council. You can apply for the funding via the platform.

Your application will be assessed and you will be informed within one month whether your application has been successful. Successful applicants will be required to make a formal agreement via the platform which sets out the terms and conditions of the funding transfer arrangement.

Further information?

Please email [email protected] or call 01925 442651 if you have any specific queries.

For general information on apprenticeship funding the following are available:

24 April 2023