John Lewis, M&S and Tesco are among a collection of retailers calling for a significant overhaul the Apprenticeship Levy, arguing that the regulations surrounding the levy restrict their access to the funding pool.
The levy – 0.5% of their annual payroll – is payable by companies with a wage bill over £3m to the government fund. to help smaller companies hire and train more young people.
The British Retail Consortium claims that around £130m of potential investment in jobs goes to waste due to these limits, stressing that the levy is an extra cost at a time when firms are already grappling with increases to property bills and wages.
M&S boss Stuart Machin has urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, to revise the current business rates model saying the tax “balance is wrong and stymying growth”.
Despite the backlash, a Department for Education spokesman told This is Money: “The levy has enabled us to increase investment in apprenticeships to over £2.7bn a year by 2024-25.”
