Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

RetailApprenticeshipsLatest NewsCareer developmentLearning & development

Tesco boss: Apprenticeship levy is too inflexible

by Ashleigh Webber 29 Mar 2019
by Ashleigh Webber 29 Mar 2019

The CEO of the UK’s largest retailer has slammed the apprenticeship levy for being too inflexible and “open to abuse”.

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said that while apprenticeships have helped address skills gaps and offer pathways to employment for many of its staff, the retailer has been prevented from offering the number of apprenticeships it would like because it is only able to draw on a fraction of the money it pays in.

Apprenticeship levy

‘Premium’ should be paid for high-value apprenticeships

Use or share apprenticeship levy funds, employers urged

Apprenticeship levy underpayment investigations more than double

Huge levy underspend revealed

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference yesterday, Lewis said: “Since 2012 we’ve supported nearly 10,000 apprenticeships within Tesco.

“Our apprenticeships cater for every age and more than 60% of participants are women. [They’re] a vital pathway to employment

“But the policy framework for apprenticeships is broken…There’s simply not enough flexibility and it’s too open to abuse.

“Tesco wants to take on more apprenticeships but we’re barred from doing that cost-effectively and I know that many other businesses are frustrated in a similar way.”

He agreed with the National Audit Office’s view that the levy’s effectiveness needed to be evaluated. Earlier this month the NAO claimed many organisations were using the levy to fund “costly” level 6 and 7 apprenticeships, preventing more apprenticeships from being offered.

“At Tesco we can only use 20% of the money we pay in. We can’t use the rest to train for the new skills we need, so in effect it’s 80% tax on training. It makes no sense,” he said.

Lewis suggested that “backfill costs” for retailers needed to be funded by the levy. Currently, organisations must pay for apprentices’ roles to be covered while the apprentice is doing their off-the-job training.

Functional skills training – English, mathematics and ICT training that apprentices must complete – should also be funded from the levy pot, he recommended.

“You then get fully focused apprenticeships from the start, improving the performance with less time away from their day job,” Lewis explained.

According to the Department for Education, 225,800 people started an apprenticeship in the first six months of the 2018-19 academic year – an increase of 10% compared with the same period last year.

However, this figure is still far below the number of apprenticeships started before the levy was introduced in 2017 and means the government is unlikely to hit its target of getting three million people in apprenticeships by 2020.

Tesco
Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor of OHW+ and HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines, touching on some of the employment and wellbeing issues experienced by those in road haulage.

previous post
Redundancy when on maternity leave: a matter of communication
next post
Graduate gender pay gap: Men earn 15% more than women

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

A-level results 2023: Employers less likely to require...

17 Aug 2023

Personnel Today Awards 2023 shortlist: Early Careers Award

17 Aug 2023

‘Rip-off’ degrees to be capped in favour of...

17 Jul 2023

How the NHS can be revitalised through apprenticeships

14 Jul 2023

NHS England unveils workforce plan

30 Jun 2023

Manufacturing body demands reforms to apprenticeship funding

19 Jun 2023

Graduate employers should consider impact of marking boycott

15 Jun 2023

Report recommends student loan-style scheme for pilot training

5 Jun 2023

One in 10 young people not in education,...

25 May 2023

Apprenticeship ‘coldspots’ mean young people miss out

11 May 2023

  • Discover the value of CIPD accreditation PROMOTED | See how the CIPD can increase your earning potential...Read more
  • What does it mean to be an HR professional in 2024? (survey) PROMOTED | The world of HR is changing rapidly...Read more
  • The Contractor Management Mastery Pack: Everything you need to manage and pay global contractors PROMOTED | Answers to cross-border...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+