Woodspeen Training: Reaction to Budget 2024

Yesterday’s budget, Labour’s first for 14 years, has brought with it a range of initiatives that will be felt by both businesses and families. The budget comes at a time where the country is continuing to recover from the Cost of Living crisis and amidst other changes being brought in by the new Government.

As a business, whose role is to enable businesses of all sizes to grow and develop, Woodspeen Training understands that some of the initiatives outlined yesterday will have raised questions within some of the businesses that we work with: how will we continue our growth plans, how can we afford to bring in new skills, and many others.

Let me reassure you that Woodspeen Training is here to work with businesses to answer some of these questions and enable them to support their staff, both developmentally and cost effectively.

During her speech the Chancellor outlined some key policies that business will need to be aware of:

NI contributions

The government announced a 1.2 percentage point increase in the national insurance (NI) rate paid by employers, from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent by April 2025. In addition, the threshold at which employers start paying NI on a worker’s earnings will drop from £9,100 a year to £5,000.

Please note that apprentices under the age of 25 remain exempt from National Insurance Employer’s Contributions [NIERS].

For further details on how to recruit and employ an apprentice contact the team now.

Growth and Skills Levy

The Chancellor announced the Government are taking steps to transform the Apprenticeship Levy into a Growth and Skills Levy through £40 million investment. This will help to deliver on their commitment to launch shorter and foundation apprenticeships in key sectors. For employers, the reduced time a foundation apprenticeship requires will mean that staff in certain roles can be operational more quickly, filling important skills gaps that have been identified.

As an apprenticeship provider, Woodspeen Training, supports the focus on apprenticeships, we understand how these programmes can transform lives as our staff see it daily, and have used apprenticeships themselves to support their own growth, as can be seen by Early Years Sector Lead Katie Dunmore.

Funded Childcare

The budget announced the allocation of an additional £1.8 billion to continue the expansion of government funded childcare, providing young children with high-quality early education. Along with £30 million being provided for the rollout of free breakfast clubs in thousands of primary schools , to help parents, and particularly mothers, to stay in and return to work.

Woodspeen Training will continue to recruit and train Early Years Apprentices on behalf of employers across England to help them develop a workforce that can meet the increased demand for childcare places that this funding will create.

NHS England

As you’d expect the NHS featured heavily in the budget, with the Chancellor outlining funding for the NHS for the next few years. This funding comes with stipulations around reforms that Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been working with NHS leaders on. One thing we do know, is that NHS England understands the benefit of apprenticeships within the pharmacy sector. It’s announcement in September that it is set to fund 530 Pre-Registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians in community pharmacies comes at a pivotal time for pharmacies across the country. With more and more pharmacies closing every week, we cannot afford to lose this precious resource in our communities. NHS England will be announcing the results of this funding round shortly.

Woodspeen Training understands the impact apprenticeships have on businesses, how they fill skills gaps, enable successful succession planning, and support social mobility in local communities through employment opportunities. We will continue to work to fulfil our mission, to enable all our learners to reach their potential, increasing their confidence so they can create sustainable careers, and support businesses to achieve their growth plans by bringing in skills at the right time.

For more information on the courses Woodspeen Training offers contact the team now.