Heating businesses should think now about new apprenticeship levy, says OFTEC Published:  21 July, 2016 OFTEC is urging heating businesses to consider whether they can take advantage of the new Apprenticeship Levy to help them recruit fresh, young talent and contribute towards stemming the industry’s skills shortage. The Apprenticeship Levy comes into force on April 6 2017 and will see companies with annual wage bills in excess of £3 million pay a 0.5% tax on payroll. All businesses will then be eligible to claim back funding from the money accrued to help offset the cost of employing apprentices. The move is part of the government’s pledge to create three million more apprenticeships in the UK by 2020. The number of young people starting apprenticeships in England rose by 14% during 2014/15, the first time the total has increased for three years, a trend government hopes will continue in 2016. Currently the majority (73%) of apprenticeships are concentrated in the services sector, but according to OFTEC, this pattern needs to change to provide opportunities in the sectors where there is most need – such as the heating industry. “It’s very encouraging to see the number of apprenticeships in England increased last year. Quality apprenticeships are an invaluable part of further education and can give young people a real opportunity to start a rewarding and secure career,” said OFTEC training manager, David Knipe. “With the Apprenticeship Levy coming in next year, heating businesses should be asking themselves now, could and should they draw upon the available funding to help them take on an apprentice? Recruiting young talent in this way can provide an affordable route to business expansion with the advantage of being able to train an apprentice to the high standards you expect. “With the heating and plumbing sector identified as one of the industries most affected by the UK’s growing skills shortage, it’s imperative we encourage the next generation of technicians and equip them with the right skills to take the sector forward.” Following a government review, ‘Trailblazer’ apprenticeships are now replacing the old Specification for Apprenticeship Standards for England (SASE) framework to provide a new style of apprenticeship which is more employer focused. OFTEC fully backs the apprenticeship reforms which aim to ensure the new on-the-job training schemes equip young people with workplace skills that are relevant to both business and industry. “The skills shortage felt across the heating industry is also being exacerbated by the number of skilled workers now reaching retirement age with too few trained younger people coming through to plug the gap,” continued Mr Knipe. “The introduction of better quality, more focussed apprenticeships which are fit for today’s economy and the future, will hopefully encourage greater uptake and go some way towards addressing this very real issue.” Source link

Build UK’s The State of Trade Survey, compiled in partnership with Glenigan, found that 52 per cent of Build UK members expect workloads to grow over the next 12 months. Costs and labour supply remained the biggest worries for most builders, with 39 per cent of respondents reporting an increase in business costs and 43 per cent an increase in labour costs in the latest quarter. In total, two thirds of contractors reported higher labour costs year-on-year. Many contractors voiced additional concerns over recruitment difficulties, particularly with supervisory, managerial and technical staff. 53 per cent of those surveyed cited skills shortages as one of the main reasons for their recruitment difficulties, with 48 per cent reporting a lack of qualifications and 53 per cent a lack of required experience amongst their applicants overall. However, this was an improvment on last year where companies reported that 62 per cent of applicants lacked the required skills and 54 per cent required more experience. Build UK chief executive Suzannah Nichol said: “There continue to be mixed messages in terms of growth, however industry intelligence shows increasing levels of activity over the last quarter. “Employers are experiencing both rising material and labour costs as they head towards maximum capacity and this continues to highlight difficulties in recruiting appropriate skills at all levels.” Build UK was formed following the merger of the National Specialist Contractors Council and the UK Contractors Group in May 2015. The organisation represents over 11,500 specialist contractors and some of the largest main contractors and trade associations across the country. Source link

Pending home sales in the United States increased slightly in March for the second consecutive month and reached their highest level in almost a year, according to the latest index. The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors, a forward looking indicator based on contract signings, increased by 1.4% in March and is now 1.4% above March 2015. It means that after the slight gain, the index has increased year on year for 19 consecutive months and is at its highest reading since May 2015 and Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said it signals a solid beginning to the spring buying season. ‘Despite supply deficiencies in plenty of areas, contract activity was fairly strong in a majority of markets in March. This spring’s surprisingly low mortgage rates are easing some of the affordability pressures potential buyers are experiencing and are taking away some of the sting from home prices that are still rising too fast and above wage growth,’ he explained. He also pointed out that in the short term, the healthy labour market and favourable borrowing costs should lead to sustained buyer demand and a durable pace of sales. However, Yun he believes that the consequences from a failure to construct more single family homes in recent years are starting to impact some top job producing markets, where endless supply shortages continue to limit choices for buyers and are driving up prices beyond what a growing share of households can comfortably afford. ‘Demand is starting to weaken in some areas, particularly in the West, where the median home price has risen an astonishing 38% in the past three years. As a result, pending sales in the region have now declined in four of the last five months and are lower than one year ago for the third month in a row. Closed sales in the region in March were also below last year’s pace,’ Yun said. A breakdown of the figures show that the index in the Northeast increased 3.2% and is now 18.4% above a year ago while in the Midwest the index inched up 0.2% but is now 4% above March 2015. Pending home sales in the South rose 3% but are still 0.6% lower than last March and the index in the West declined 1.8% in March and is now 7.9% below a year ago. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link