logo
Blog

How the ‘Mini-Budget’ Supports Employers, Training and Skills Development

Jul 10 2020

This week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined the government’s ‘plan for jobs’ to boost the economy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. His announcement included a handful of new initiatives and schemes to support both employers and jobseekers to recover after lockdown, furlough, redundancies and wavering consumer confidence.

The Chancellor’s statement included a variety of measures to help people into employment, as well as incentives for employers to employ apprentices and trainees to narrow skills gaps.

Below I’ve highlighted some important changes that might help with your staffing and staff development. There are three key changes:

  1. The government has announced a brand new ‘Kickstart Scheme’. This will, for six months, pay wages for 25 hours per week for 16-24 year olds who were previously on Universal Credit and struggling to find work. Wages will paid at the National Minimum Wage rate, including employer’s National Insurance and minimum auto-enrolment costs. You, the employer, will claim the costs from the government. The scheme is intended specifically for those people who are not yet ‘work-ready’, and the job must be newly created, so it cannot be used to replace an existing worker. I’m sure this scheme will provide some welcome support to those employers with opportunities for inexperienced job seekers.
     
  2. The Chancellor announced an extension to the existing traineeships programme. This means when operators offer work experience to traineeship learners they will receive £1,000 support funding. Like the Kickstart Scheme, this scheme is intended to help people who are not yet work-ready and need some support to become so.
     
  3. Lastly, for employers who recruit a new apprentice, there will be a payment from the government (paid in part when the apprentice is taken on, the rest when they complete their apprenticeship) of £2,000 for under 25s and £1,500 for over 25s.

 

The detail on how these schemes will operate is not yet public. However (and this is a big however), it does appear that if you wish to take on a jobseeker through the Kickstart Scheme, you would be able to employ them as an apprentice and earn the apprentice bonus at the end of the six months period. Equally, should you have a number of opportunities and wish to work with us to run a traineeship programme (which would be a minimum of six weeks long), then your trainees could graduate from that programme onto an apprenticeship programme.

We had hoped that the Kickstart Scheme would be capable of running in tandem with an apprenticeship, thus helping operators to take on new talent and nurture them for a great career in our fabulous industry. Unfortunately, current advice is that the schemes cannot be run at the same time, however, we are working on making a strong case to the government for this to be changed.  

It is a little disappointing that the Chancellor did not take this opportunity to open up the Apprenticeship Levy to support non-apprenticeship skills and apprentice wages, to remove the employer contribution for small employers, or to extend access to training support for people who lose their jobs and remain unemployed three months later. We hope these suggestions will be enacted in future announcements.

We have requested more information on the application of the new schemes to see how we can help our partners to navigate them and will be producing full guidance very soon.

Take care, and if there’s anything at all we can help you with please ask. Our friendly teams are available between 8:30 am 5:30 pm, seven days a week, via 0800 093 5892, or email us at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can get in touch with your local HIT contact direct.

Related articles

Protecting the Future of the Sector: Hospitality Businesses Pledge to Fund Apprenticeships Outside Their Organisation

Don’t Waste: The Future of Hospitality

HIT’s Executive Chair Jill Whittaker OBE wins award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’

What we Can Learn from the Industry About Infection Control

Apprentices Make History After Completing the UK’s First Ever Brewer Apprenticeship

Rising stars of the UK culinary scene revealed for Young National Chef of the Year final

Train your staff through hospitality apprenticeships

New Hospitality Academy Launches to Tackle Industry Challenges and Raise Service Standards

HIT Training Ltd Receives ‘Good’ Ofsted Rating for 14th Consecutive Year

HIT Training Ltd Signs New Business Drive to Help The Nation Through COVID-19 Crisis

The Real Barrier to Exceptional Hospitality Isn’t What You Think

Alex Angelogiannis wows judges to take top spot in National Chef of the Year competition

HIT’s UnTapped Brewer Competition is back for 2025

Chopping Boards to Boardrooms: The Benefits of Apprenticeships at Any Career Stage

‘The Super Six’ Unveiled

New Graduate Apprenticeship Launched to Build Future Hospitality Leaders

Integrating Plant Based Food into your Menu

HIT Training Ltd Welcomes Government Reforms to Functional Skills and Shorter Apprenticeships

HIT Training Ltd Receives Matrix Standard

Jill Whittaker Takes Top Honour at the 2024 Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards

Crunch Time: Over Half of Hospitality Businesses Risk Losing their Apprenticeship Levy Fund

Harness the Power of Plant Based: One Bite at a Time

New National Chef of the Year is unveiled in front of industry elite

Introducing the Executive Development Network (EDN)

Flavour of Success at The Restaurant Show

Meet our six Salon Culinaire apprentices!

There is a New Star in the Hospitality Industry

We Are Now a Planet Mark Certified Business

The Power of Adding Plant-Based to your Menu

How to Offer a Degree Apprenticeship for Employers

Flexi-apprenticeships are the Answer to the Dwindling Hospitality Workforce

What employers need to know about new funding rules

Deliveroo Launches New Chef Apprenticeship Fund to Tackle Skills Shortage

Championing Change in Functional Skills

Hospitality Apprentices Impress at HIT Masterchef Finals

‘Forward with Marcus Wareing’ programme expands following huge success

Employee-owned training group signals long-term commitment to UK skills with new name

HIT Training Named in Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work for

HIT Training and The Clink Charity announce new partnership to launch apprenticeships for serving prisoners

Introducing the New Normal for HIT’s Apprenticeship Delivery

Leading the Way: Long Awaited Production Chef Apprenticeship is Launched

Jill Whittaker, Managing Director of HIT Training Ltd, Awarded OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

Medals All Round for our Fired Up Four!

Why we Need Apprenticeships to Build the Future

HIT Launches New Fish Friers Apprenticeship

Industry Collaboration Launches Talent Hub to Inspire and Retain Next Generation of Hospitality Professionals

Update to our company name

Stepping Up – It’s Time to Earn your Stripes

Center Parcs Celebrates Apprentice Trailblazers

Creating a Learn-it-All Culture

Sodexo Culinary Academy focuses on inspiring and elevating chefs at every level

HIT Heroes Award Winners Announced for 2021

HIT Training Ltd announces new Managing Director Mike Worley

How to Manage Stress: Stress Awareness Month 2021

HIT Training and BII Collaborate on a Series of Ready to Reopen Webinars

Hat-trick for HIT: Apprenticeship Provider of the Year three years running

Rising stars named in prestigious Young National Chef of the Year semi-final line-up

Untapped – HIT Training’s Brewer Apprentice Competition

A Listening Ear Makes All the Difference: World Suicide Prevention Day

Future-Proof Your Business and Save Big: National Insurance Savings for Employers of Apprentices Under 25

An Industry Collaboration

HIT Training launches intelligent apprenticeship recruitment service for hospitality and retail, in partnership with urfuture

Government announces major youth employment drive and apprenticeship reforms

Sodexo partners with HIT to gift £250k of levy to support hospitality apprentices

Omicron and COVID Plan B Update

What Are Flexible Apprenticeships?

From First Job to Future Career

Sam Dixon takes the top spot in Young National Chef of the Year

HIT Training Ltd Wins Excellence in English and Maths Skills Development at the Apprenticeship and Training Awards

HIT Training Ltd moves to employee ownership

HIT Training First to Launch New Qualification for Health and Social Care Sector

The Importance of a Mentor for Apprentices

Access Global Opportunities for Your Apprentices

It’s Time to Take Unnecessary Food Waste off the Menu

HIT Training Ltd named “Learning Provider of the Year” at the 2025 Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards

HIT Training Features for Fourth Time in The Sunday Times’ Top 100 Best Companies to Work for’

Hospitality Unites to Launch New Graduate Apprenticeship Programme

Gravetye Manor chef takes the top spot in Young National Chef of the Year

HIT Training Ltd scoops the award for Best Training Provider at the prestigious Apprenticeship Guide Awards

John Hyde Scoops Special Recognition Award

Supporting Employers During the Economic Recovery

What are apprenticeships? A guide for employers.

HIT Training Offers Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship to Drive Business Improvement

HIT Retains One Third of Staff for Over 10 Years

Developing an Apprenticeship Strategy

Grow your team with retail apprenticeships

We’re Unmasking Talent in the Hospitality Industry with the Launch of the HIT Heroes Awards

Boost Your Mental Health Through Small Acts of Kindness

Research Reveals a Positive Change in Perceptions of Hospitality Careers

Do Hospitality Careers Need a Rebrand?

HIT Training LTD Receives Royal Recognition for Outstanding Training Impact

Making 2022 The ‘Year of Retention’

The Apprenticeship Levy One Year on

Mental Health Awareness Week – Dealing with Anxiety

HIT Training Apprentice Becomes First to Achieve New Hospitality Supervisor Apprenticeship

HIT Training Elevates Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion by Becoming Patrons of the Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance

HIT Training Receives Matrix Accreditation

What is the Apprenticeship Levy?

A Year of Achievement: HIT celebrates its first year under employee ownership.

HIT supports new platform to promote pub and hospitality careers

Sign up to news, events and great resources