Greater clarity is needed to help businesses understand Government changes to apprenticeship funding, latest research has shown.

In April 2017 the Government will introduce its Apprenticeship Levy, which means firms with payroll over £3m will have to pay 0.5% of the value above £3m into an apprenticeship fund.

As soon as an employer has funds in its levy account it will be able to select a provider and an apprenticeship programme and commit to the apprenticeship.

Firms with payroll below the £3m threshold will have to register with the fund and will be required to co-invest in the training cost. It is proposed that these employers contribute ten per cent of the cost, with Government paying the balance.

There will be additional financial support for small employers (fewer than 50 employees) who train 16-18 year olds and for those where the apprentice is a 19-24 year old care leaver or is 19-24 years old and has a local authority education, health and care plan.

Firms will be able to offset the levy against Corporation Tax but will not be able to offset it against contributions to sector training bodies.

But a survey of 1,600 businesses nationally in August found that 39% had no idea how the Apprenticeship Levy would work or hadn’t heard of it.

The survey also showed that about 30% of medium-sized companies – those employing 50-249 staff – will have to pay the levy but only 26% thought they would be able to recover all of their levy payment or more.

Over half of the respondents (51%) said they had no idea how the reforms would work. The results suggest that the Government has so far failed to adequately communicate the apprenticeship funding policy.

In the East Midlands, according to the East Midlands Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey for the third quarter of 2106, 31.4% of firms said they currently employ apprentices and 16.7% said they planned to.

But 36% said they didn’t know what the impact of the changes to apprenticeship funding next April would be, while 21% said they felt the changes would increase employment of apprentices.

Data from the East Midlands was fed into the British Chambers of Commerce survey.

Diane Simpson, Deputy Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said:-

“Firms value apprenticeships as way of developing skills and increasing productivity. However, with just six months to go until the levy is introduced, our research shows the Government needs to step up its communication to business to ensure that businesses understand how they could benefit from the reforms.

“If it just feels like just another tax then then the policy will have failed. Devolved administrations also need to provide a guarantee that the money raised is ring-fenced and kept for training.

“And Government should allow businesses to use the levy funding to support other high-quality workplace training. Treating apprenticeships as just a numbers game will benefit neither businesses nor apprentices.”

The Spireites have donated £5,000 to their charity partner for last season, Ashgate Hospicecare.

The club generated funds for Ashgate Hospicecare and raised awareness of the charity’s activities as part of the link-up between the two organisations.

Ashley Carson, Director at Chesterfield Football Club, who presented a cheque to Ashgate Hospicecare at half time in Saturday’s game against Northampton Town, said:-

“We were delighted to be able to hand over a four-figure sum to a charity which touches the lives of so many people in the area. We will continue to support the valuable work being done by Ashgate Hospicecare in whatever way we can.”

Esther Preston, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Ashgate Hospicecare, gratefully received the cheque. She said:-

”This very generous donation couldn’t have come at a better time as demand for our services continues to grow.

“This will make a big difference to many local people as £5,000 could pay for 100 people to attend our day hospice, which brings comfort and relief to people with any life limiting illness and gives valuable respite to their carers and family.”

The Mayoress of Chesterfield, Jill Mannion-Brunt, paid a special visit to Ashgate Hospicecare last week, not as a visitor but as a volunteer.

The Mayoress, who has lived in Chesterfield since 1989, volunteered on both the Inpatient Unit and Day Hospice throughout the morning serving breakfast and lunch to patients.

The Mayoress said:-

“The whole experience has been absolutely great. If you are thinking about volunteering then please come and do it. It is invaluable not only for the patients but for the staff as well.

“I would just like to reinforce how important it is to have a place like this. The whole recognition of death as part of the life process and the way people should be looked after with ambiguity and that every town should have a place like this. It is just a jewel.”

Lucy Nickson, Chief Executive at Ashgate Hospicecare, said:-

“It was a pleasure welcoming the Mayoress at the hospice and was very generous and kind of her to spend her time volunteering, spending time with patients. We’re extremely grateful to the Mayoress for her support and look forward to her visiting the hospice again in the near future.”

Alan Rhodes, a patient in Ashgate Hospicecare’s Day Hospice, met with the Mayoress and shared stories throughout the morning. He said:-

“It was wonderful to see the Mayoress in the day hospice, chatting to all the patients. She makes a great cup of coffee!”

The Mayoress is in office until May 2017 and plans to support Ashgate Hospicecare in any way which would benefit the hospice.

The Business of the Year accolade at last night’s East Midlands Chamber Derbyshire 2016 Awards was shared between Penny Hydraulics and HUUB Design.

Chesterfield-based Penny Hydraulics is a UK manufacturer of lifting equipment, with its own purpose-built premises housing a manufacturing and assembly plant.

It carries out all design, manufacturing, quality control, aftersales support and nationwide service operation from a central base.

The company entered the awards because it believed that by putting itself forward it would reap benefits and value beyond the trophy and title if lucky enough to win.

It said that being announced as a finalist had given the firm an immediate boost to workplace morale, which gave the company the ideal opportunity to recognise employees for their contribution to the business.

The firms were among 11 to win awards at the gala dinner at Derby’s Roundhouse where the Chamber celebrated the strength and successes of businesses across Derby and Derbyshire. Three other Chesterfield business were recognised at the event with Cathelco being awarded Excellence in International Trade, Banner Jones being awarded Excellence in Customer Service and Northern Lights being awarded Manufacturer of the Year.

Jean Mountain, Chamber President, said:-

“The Chamber’s congratulations go to all of this year’s winners. We had some really good entries and the judging process was extremely tough, but all of the winning businesses thoroughly deserve their success.

“The standard of competition was extremely high, which clearly shows that despite the surprise of the exit vote at the EU Referendum, we have some real success stories of Derbyshire businesses doing well. All of the finalists also deserve recognition for their success.

“Over the past 12 months, businesses in Derbyshire have been busy investing, innovating, exporting and growing and these awards are testament to the quality of businesses we have in this city and county.”

The number of people in work in the East Midlands continues to rise despite fears that the outcome of the EU-Referendum might have caused massive job losses.

Figures released this morning by the Office of National Statistics showed that there were 2,296,242 people in work in the region in the three months to the end of July – 25,957 higher than the previous quarter, 26,462 better than a year earlier and 88,987 higher than two years ago.

The number of people unemployed fell to 102,104 for the quarter to the end of July – 4,126 lower than the previous quarter, 8,872 down on the previous year and 28,417 lower than two years previously.

The unemployment rate for the region dropped to 4.3%, down from 4.5% in the previous quarter and remains well below the 4.9% national level.

And the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance in August stayed the same in comparison to last months figures in Chesterfield

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said:-

“Reports from the recruitment sector since the EU-Referendum had suggested a slump, which makes today’s figures even more positive than might have been expected.

“Far from being negative, these figures show continued confidence from business across virtually the whole region and all sectors and are probably one of the best indicators to date that despite the vote to leave the EU nothing has actually happened yet to the detriment of business.

“Businesses across the East Midlands continue to be the drivers of the regional economy and, by default, the national economy. We make things here in the East Midlands and ship them all over the world, not just to the EU, and we will continue to do so long after we leave the EU.”

Chesterfield Football Club are delighted to announce a deal with a leading local van sales company that will see the West Stand at the Proact Stadium named The Van Yard Stand.

The deal with The Van Yard sees them become a significant partner for the club and they have signed a deal to the end of the 2017/18 season.

The company have recently moved to new premises in Arkwright Town to cope with their increasing trade and linking up with the Spireites will help to enhance their brand awareness.

Chris Allsop, Managing Director of The Van Yard, said:-

“It is a great privilege to agree this sponsorship deal with the football club. We have streamlined our business and moved to new premises this year and the next step is for us to strengthen our commercial exposure in the area. Working with Chesterfield FC will allow us to do this and I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”

Richard Nichols, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Chesterfield FC, said:-

“It is fantastic to have an enthusiastic and proactive company like The Van Yard associate their business with us here at Chesterfield Football Club.

“Chris has been a pleasure to deal with and we are both genuinely excited about developing a positive and strong relationship over the next two years. They are a local company who already work closely with the RAC, which demonstrates their lofty ambitions and that matches what we want to achieve here.”