New LMG White Paper Looks at Apprenticeship Levy

The word from the LMG who have a new white paper out;

Today, the London Market Group (LMG) the trade body for the specialist commercial (re)insurance industry in London has launched a white paper Investing in Our Future outlining its key proposals for reforming the apprenticeship levy at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Over the past few months, the LMG has worked with companies across the London Market to understand the challenges of using the current levy model and to come up with clear reforms that will help to increase the number of apprenticeships available, freeing up unused levy capital and instilling greater flexibility for companies accessing their levy funds.

Caroline Wagstaff, CEO of the London Market Group, commented: “Making specialty insurance a destination career for school leavers is central to the activity of the LMG. In the conversations we have had with market firms, around our Futures Academy and Apprenticeship Discovery programmes, we have heard about the significant challenges that they face in accessing levy funding, with some companies even hiring school leavers but not using their levy funds at all.

“This is the worst of all possible worlds. Today we have put forward some practical and achievable quick wins to make the apprenticeship levy work better for firms in the London market and move towards a levy that can support growth and skills. Our expectation is that this will mean that more companies can hire more school leavers to work in this world-leading industry”.

The publication of “Investing in Our Future” outlines the findings of our consultation with insurers and brokers on the challenges of engaging with the levy process. Recommendations include:

·        Enable the levy to be spent on all course-related training, including soft skills and ongoing support,

·        Adjust levy funding in line with inflation,

·        Introduce flexible standards which meet the needs of modern businesses,

·        Reform arbitrary end points to maximise completions and simplify payments to training providers, and

·        Make it easier to transfer levy funds to other organisations.

Caroline will be participating alongside Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Executive at the CBI, on a panel on Tuesday 24^th, chaired by former advisor to Sir Keir Starmer, Nick Forbes, on “Why is there a need for growing collaboration between higher and further education to deliver the skills Britain needs.” Caroline will speak about the experience of London Market firms, discussing the problems and solutions most frequently encountered by insurance businesses in accessing young talent and ensuring the next generation of underwriters and brokers have the skills needed to succeed in this global industry.