Access to skilled talent is critical for Liverpool City Region’s ambitions for innovation-led growth. With over 49,000 employers including around 400 levy-payers, it's relatively easy for SMEs to engage with apprenticeships - and keep investment in the region, which is central to the Combined Authority’s ‘one front door’ approach. Liverpool City Region’s Employer Brokerage Service began life in 2015, with Knowsley Council demonstrating what was possible. Now, the service operates across six local authorities to streamline and centralise skills support for businesses covering apprenticeships and facilitate levy transfer, as well as supporting other funded training programmes.
The ‘Be More’ website and careers app pulls data about apprenticeship opportunities from national Government websites, like the Find an Apprenticeship Service, but with ‘a localised flavour’, according to Joe Keegan, Employer Brokerage Service Team Leader. It highlights apprenticeship opportunities locally, with occupational mapping and insight videos offering holistic support to applicants. The Combined Authority also coordinates Apprenticeship Levy transfer from large to small employers. IPPR research suggests that for every £1 paid in tax, 96p is retained by Whitehall. And when it comes to apprenticeships, the Combined Authority estimates around £200 million from the region’s levy payers has been retained by Treasury since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced. Keeping investment in the region has been a driving force behind the brokerage service.
“The big challenge was to get in front of levy payers” Joe Keegan said, “It’s hard to get to the right decision makers and ask those questions about ‘are they fully utilising their levy for their own apprentices and if they're not, are they willing to transfer it out to other employees in the city region? For us, it was about really supporting those smaller employers who, in the main, couldn't afford to pay that 5% co-contribution and keep the levy in the city region.”
Liverpool Football Club, the BBC, Amazon, B&Q and TUI are just some of the household names that have seen more than £12 million transferred between businesses through the scheme. Across the region, nearly half of apprenticeship starts facilitated through levy transfer are at Level 3 (45%), with over a quarter at Level 2 (28%), above national averages for these crucial entry-levels into employment. The health and social care sector has seen the most starts from the scheme (making up 51% of all starts), with early years and childcare (19%), professional services (16%), creative and digital (5%) and engineering and trades (5%) also benefitting.
Taking a holistic approach, making it as simple as possible for employers to engage with the brokerage service has been key to untangling what can be a complex skills training offer. Joe Keegan said, “We're seen as the first port of call. It's a very simple process for anyone looking to receive levy or transfer. They just complete a form with us and we work with them... … It is more of a ‘boots on the ground’ approach than a system. We're picking up on everything that an employer might need in terms of skills and apprenticeships… and we can link them into other areas of the Combined Authority for any other advice.”
Lessons for other local and combined authorities hoping to set up a similar service
- SMEs are time poor. Combine apprenticeship services with other business services to streamline the SME experience, creating ‘one front door’ to support.
- Take the time to establish relationships with local businesses first so that you are seen as a trusted and impartial broker.
- Starting out with Apprenticeship Levy transfer is an excellent way to build relationships with businesses and keep funding local, before expanding your services.
Lessons for national government
- Create a sustainable funding stream to support combined authorities to set up their own brokerage services, designed according to local needs.
- Establish a mechanism to help local brokerage services share best practice to ensure universal access to gold standard support.