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SummitSkills welcomes apprenticeship grant

The latest government announcement making apprenticeship grants available to more employers will give a welcome boost to SMEs in the building services engineering sector, says skills council SummitSkills.

The government is to relax restrictions on its Apprenticeship Grants for Employers (AGE) scheme which enables SMES employing apprentices to benefit from £1,500 financial support. The upper limit on the size of qualifying employers has now been increased from 250 staff to 1,000. Payments will now take place in one installment rather than two.

Keith Marshall OBE, chief executive of SummitSkills, said: “These changes to the AGE scheme will contribute to the creation of more apprentices and we welcome the government’s quick action in response to the findings of the Holt Review.

“Our sector needs to invest in creating a pipeline of talented people to protect its future. Easier access to this grant may well be the catalyst to tip an employer’s decision toward taking on an apprentice as an investment in the future.”