Hampshire invests in care staff apprenticeships

Hampshire County Council has invested in more than 150 apprenticeships in the care sector, according to new figures. 

The figures released by the local authority show it has invested £1m in new apprenticeships across the county over the last year.

The funding is from the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer scheme, which is an amount of money that, by law, large employers must set aside for apprenticeship training.

If the full amount is not used in-house, or transferred, the remainder goes to the Treasury.

According to the local authority, it has funded 152 apprenticeships in the care sector over the last year, with 29 care employers.

Priority has also been given to small and medium enterprises, public bodies such as local councils, the emergency services and construction companies.

‘Although we have all had to cope and respond to the challenges presented by coronavirus, one of the success stories of 2020 has been the enthusiastic take-up of our levy offer by employers, particularly as without this assistance, some companies would be unable to offer apprenticeships at all,’ said executive lead member for children’s services and young people, Cllr Patricia Stallard.

‘Both employers and staff benefit from apprenticeships, which help them to ensure they have the right skills for continued and future productivity, something that has become even more evident since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the ongoing need for high-quality care.’

Langdale Nursing Home in Gosport has benefited from an apprenticeship levy transfer to upskill its care staff. Manager Rebecca McBride explained: ‘As a business, we are committed to continuing professional development for our employees. We have a very diverse staff group who have had very different experiences in education prior to working with us – some positive, some negative. We recognise this and want to provide a positive learning experience which will enhance our business and their employment progression opportunities. The levy funding has meant that we can provide more training opportunities to our employees.’

Photo Credit – Fotorech (Pixabay)