Leicester Apprenticeship Grant

Frequently asked questions

1. What is the Leicester Apprenticeship Grant?

The Leicester Apprenticeship Grant aims to support Leicestershire businesses that would not otherwise be in a position to recruit an apprentice and which employ individuals aged 16-24 who live in Leicester city.

Employers can access the grant of up to £3,000 (including ‘AGE’) subject to meeting the eligibility criteria for both schemes. The Leicester Apprenticeship Grant is available to employers which take on a 16-24 year old city resident on an intermediate (Level 2) or advanced (Level 3) Apprenticeship.

2. Which companies are eligible?Employers based in Leicester and Leicestershire which employ an apprentice aged 16-24 living in Leicester city.

In addition, the employer must: Confirm the company is not able to employ an apprentice without the grant Employ fewer than 50 members of staff Have not previously employed an apprentice in the past 12 months or enrolled an existing

member of staff on to an Apprenticeship programme Commit to employ the apprentice for a minimum of 12 months or the time it takes to

complete the Apprenticeship, whichever is greater Confirm awareness of and do not breach any State Aid rules

Leicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphub

Leicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphu

b

3. How are payments broken down?

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant comprises: £1,500 available to employers recruiting an apprentice aged 16 to 18 or £1,000 to employers recruiting an apprentice aged 19 to 24.

4. When does the employer become eligible for payment?

Grant Amount Qualifying period

Age Grant £1500 Once qualifying apprentice has completed 13-week ‘in-learning’ on their Apprenticeship programme; as defined by the Skills Funding Agency

Administrator National Apprenticeship

Service/

Training Provider

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant (apprentice aged 16-18)

£1500

£1000

Once qualifying apprentice has completed 26 weeks in employment

Leicester City Council

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant (apprentice aged 19-24)

Maximum grant available £3000

5. Can employers claim this grant in addition to Age Grant or DWP Wage Incentive?Yes, businesses may also be eligible to receive financial support from the ApprenticeshipGrant for Employers (AGE grant) or DWP Wage Incentive of £2,275 if they meet theeligibility rules for these schemes.

6. When can employers apply?Employers will need to apply for the grant once they have a start date for the apprentice orwhen the apprentice has commenced employment. Employers will have a maximum ofeight weeks from employment commencement date to apply for the grant.

7. How will the enhanced grant be marketed?Leicester City Council’s Leicester Apprenticeship Hub will be responsible for coordinatingthe marketing of the grant to employers. Further marketing efforts will also be supported bylocal training providers, colleges and stakeholders. Marketing material will be madeavailable for promotion of the grant.

8. How will payments be made?Payments will be made by BACS direct to the employer once qualifying period and qualityassurance is met.

9. How many grants can one employer have?Eligible employers can receive payment for up to 10 grants; however employers will needto indicate the number of apprentices they are planning on recruiting at initial applicationstage.

Leicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphub

10. Who will administer the Leicester Apprenticeship Grant?The Leicester Apprenticeship Grant will be administered by the Leicester ApprenticeshipHub.

11. What checks are made to ensure the grant is approved?The Leicester Apprenticeship Hub staff will contact the apprentice’s training provider andemployer to monitor the progress of the apprentice and to confirm they are still in post afterthe qualifying period. The council may require production of records relating to therecruitment and payment of the apprentices involved.

12. What if the apprentice leaves after the grant is paid?Once the apprentice has surpassed the qualifying period, payment will then be authorised.If the apprentice subsequently leaves, the employer will not be asked to pay back thegrant.

13. Once qualifying period is complete, how long will it take for the employer to receivepayment?It may take up to 30 days for the payment to be processed upon receipt of a valid claim.

14. What is the closing date?The total funds available are limited; therefore the scheme will operate until such time asits resources are fully committed or until 31 July 2015 (whichever is soonest).

15. Will the information provided be used for any other purpose?The council reserves the right to report the number of apprentices recruited and theamount of grant awarded and paid to each recipient company to relevant city councilcommittees, the full council, the Skills Funding Agency and the National ApprenticeshipService. Information may also be used for publicity purposes promoting the grant scheme.This information may also be subject to freedom of information requests.

16. How do employers apply?You can apply for the grant by completing an online application form vialeicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphub

For further support on how to apply please email: apprenticeshiphub@leicester.gov.uk

17. Please note:The council reserves the right to refuse grant or seek repayment of grant paid In the eventthat an applicant:

fails to comply with any of the conditions stated in the foregoing sections fails to disclose information relevant to their grant application provides information which is misleading or incorrect the council reserves the right to reject any application for the Leicester Apprenticeship

Grant which it deems to be inappropriate

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant

Up to £1,500 available

Need to expand but concerned about the cost of an apprentice?

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant offers

£1500 for employers recruiting an apprentice aged 16 to 18

£1000 for employers recruiting an apprentice aged 19 to 24

Available to Leicestershire businesses when recruiting Leicester city residents

Eligible businesses can also access £1500 via the National Apprenticeship Service, so could claim up to £3,000

Interested? – Check out the eligibility criteria over the page

Leicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphub

You are eligible for the Leicester Apprenticeship Grant if you can

answer YES to all these questions

Is the apprentice you recruited, or wish to recruit; a Leicester city resident?

Are you a Leicestershire based employer?

Is the apprentice aged 16 to 24 on the commencement date of employment?

Do you employ fewer than 50 people?

Can you confirm you have not recruited an apprentice in the last 12 months

(from the start date of this new apprenticeship) and that you have not placed an

existing member of staff onto an apprenticeship programme?

Can you confirm you do not plan to make redundancies as a result of recruiting the apprentice or apprentices in question?

Can you confirm you are not in a position to recruit an apprentice without the

support of this grant?

What local companies are saying

‘Leicester Apprenticeship Hub provided us with great support; our Leicester office is quite new to apprenticeships, therefore the impartial advice was invaluable, we also qualified for an additional grant of £1500 to take on our apprentice, that’s a total of £3000 including the national grant.’

MGC Hayles Limited Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers (Leicester office)

If you have answered yes to each of these questions you can apply for this grant. Visit

our website for more details on applying.

For further information please email – apprenticeshiphub@leicester.gov.uk

Leicester.gov.uk/apprenticeshiphub

No

Yes

No

Yes

Employer to check eligibility criteria on

Leicester Apprenticeship Hub

web page

No further payment

Complete grant application form

expressing interest in grant

Are you eligible for grant? (subject to recruiting city

resident aged 16-24)

Receipt of application form email issued by

Leicester Apprenticeship Hub

Grant application process for employers

Complete full on-line grant

application form issued by Leicester Apprenticeship Hub,

attach bank details on letter headed paper,

use electronic signature where

required

Leicester Apprenticeship Hub will assess eligibility and confirm receipt of

application form

Have you recruited your eligible apprentice?

Apprenticeship hub will check if apprentice in

post at 26 weeks stage via confirmation from employer and training

provider

Cannot progress application further

until start date

Payment of £1500* or £1000* processed to employer (*dependent on apprentice's age)

Leicester City Council apprenticeship grant: Terms and conditions

1. These are the terms and conditions for the Leicester Apprenticeship Grant that the

employer has signed up to by completing the grant application form.

2. The employer will ensure that the apprentice(s) are:

Leicester residents

Aged between 16-24 years of age

Undertaking a level 2 or higher apprenticeship

3. The employer must:

Be unable to employ the apprentice without the grant

Employ fewer than 50 members of staff

Have not previously employed an apprentice in the past 12 months from the start date of this new apprenticeship) or enrolled an existing member of staff on to an apprenticeship programme

Commit to employ the apprentice for a minimum of 12 months or the time it takes

to complete the apprenticeship, whichever is greater (subject to satisfactory

performance of the apprentice as an employee)

Confirm awareness of and do not breach any State Aid rules

4. The total grant funding to employers is £1,500 per apprentice if aged 16-18 and £1,000

per apprentice if aged 19-24.

5. The employer will pay the apprentice at least the National Apprenticeship Minimum

Wage but are encouraged to pay at least the National Minimum Wage for the

apprentice’s age, including time off for off the job training.

6. The employer can also apply for the National Apprenticeship Grant of £1,500 alongside

the city council Leicester Apprenticeship Grant for the same individual.

7.The employer is responsible for checking eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for

the DWP Wage Incentive Grant. This can be done by visiting the following links:

a

b.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/helping-young-people-into-work

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wi-terms-conditions.pdf

8. Employers cannot apply for a Leicester Apprenticeship Grant and a Leicester City Council Step-Up grant (visit www.leicester.gov.uk/Step-Up) during the same time frame for the same individual. However, the employer can apply for both grants if an individual is supported via Step-Up programme initially and once the Step-Up placement has finished commences an apprenticeship programme.

9. The employer will need complete a fully signed grant application form for each

apprentice when applying for the Leicester Apprenticeship Grant.

10. Payments will be processed within 30 days to the employer subject to confirmation from

the training provider and the employer that the individual is still in work and has

completed 26 weeks of employment.

11. The employer may be required to provide subsequent employment evidence (i.e. wage

slips) if Leicester City Council needs further evidence on employment.

12. If the individual leaves or is dismissed prior to the 26th week of employment, no grant

will be awarded.

13. The employer shall promptly notify and repay to the authority (Leicester City Council) any

funding (grant) incorrectly paid by the authority for any reason.

14. The employer shall notify the authority immediately of any actual or suspected

impropriety or financial irregularity in connecting with the funding and the authority shall

have the right, at its absolute discretion, to insist on corrective steps.

15. The authority shall have the right, at its absolute discretion, to withhold or suspend

payment of the funding and/or require repayment of all or part of the funding if:

The employer uses the funding for a purpose other than that covered by thisagreement

the employer behaves in a manner which, in the opinion of the authority at itsabsolute discretion is likely to bring the reputation of the authority into disrepute

the employer fails to comply with any legislation or codes of practice

the employer provides the authority with any misleading or inaccurate information

the employer is prohibited from continuing its activities under any legislation inforce and/or by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction

16. The employer shall indemnify and keep indemnified the authority against all actions claims demands proceedings damages costs charges and expenses whatsoever in respect of or in any way arising out of this agreement in relation to the injury to or death of any person loss of or damage to any property including property belonging to the authority except and to the extent that it may arise out of the act default or negligence of the authority its employees or agents not being the employer.

17. The employer acknowledges that the authority is subject to the requirements of the

Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act (the “Acts”) and shall assist and

co-operate with the authority (at the employer’s expense) as appropriate.

18. The employer shall not publish any material referring to the funding or the authority

without the prior written agreement of, and conditions imposed by, the authority. The

authority may acknowledge the employer’s receipt of the funding and use the name of

the employer in authority publicity without prior notice

19. This agreement does not and is not intended to confer any contractual benefit on any

person pursuant to the terms of the contracts (Right of Third Parties Act 1999).

20. The employer shall not claim the funding where it employs an individual that is not aged 16-24 on the first day of employment; employment is classed as self-employment; an individual has previously been employed by the employer and that employer received funding for the employment of that individual and they were dismissed; an individual is being employed into a position where the employer received funding for the employment of another individual into that position who was dismissed, and an individual has already been appointed to, or offered, a vacancy before the scheme begins. Scheme start date is 24 February 2014.

21. The receipt of funding from the authority could be considered State Aid. Where this is

the case the authority is using General Block Exemption Regulations (GBER) to

administer the scheme. GBER Article 40 allows the payment of State Aid for the

employment of disadvantaged workers and Article 41 for disabled workers. The claim

form will indicate which category the individual falls into – category one is

‘disadvantaged’ and category two is ‘disabled’. Per employer, there are annual 5m and

10m Euro limits for the employment of disadvantaged and disabled workers respectively

and employers must ensure that each individual claim they are making does/will not take

them over the financial limits.

22. If an employer has received any funding over the last three years and is requested by

the authority to provide details of such funding, it shall provide the authority with details

of the dates and amounts of funding received.

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes19-24

16-18

Age Grant payment administered by appointed training provider

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant administered by Leicester City Council

Eligibility criteria for LAG

No further payment

£1500 @ 13 weeks (AGE grant)

Are you eligible ?

Leicester Apprenticeship Grant (LAG) eligibility

Is your apprentice a Leicester city resident and are you a Leicestershire

based business?

How old is your

apprentice?

Ineligible for grant

Payment of £1,000once qualifying apprentice has

completed 26 weeks employment

P ayment of £1,500once qualifying apprentice has

completed 26 weeks employment

Note: For further information on eligibility for the 'AGE' grant please refer to your training provider or visit gov.uk/take-on-an-apprentice/employer-grants-apprentices

Do you employ <50employees and have not previously employed an apprentice in the past 12

months