A coalition of UK business bodies representing tens of thousands of employers and millions of workers has written a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, urging him to use the spending review to broaden the apprenticeship levy.

According to the coalition, a reformed training and skills levy would allow employers to spend their levy funds more flexibly, which would allow millions more workers to benefit from quality training and career progression opportunities and boost the UK economy.

During his campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party Javid wrote, “I will broaden the apprenticeship levy into a wider skills levy, giving employers the flexibility they need to train their workforce, while ensuring they continue to back apprenticeships.”

In response, the joint letter from the coalition states: “We believe this would be the right step. A levy that allows businesses greater flexibility to fund accredited, quality training that is effective for workers and employers – rather than meeting a Government target – would be ideal. It would help to fill skills shortages and enable higher pay for workers.”

The coalition includes the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Freight Transport Association (FTA), The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) and ScreenSkills. They collectively represent employers, business owners and professionals across all sectors and regions of the UK.

Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, commented, “The apprenticeship levy was designed with the best intentions, but the current approach has not worked. The number of young workers doing apprenticeships has slowed and non-apprenticeship training has taken a huge hit. It’s time to think again. Moving away from a complex system that locks many workers out, to a flexible skills levy that lets firms buy the most appropriate high quality training for any worker is the right choice.

“Our Report on Jobs survey tells us that there are skills shortages all across the economy, from logistics to hospitality to health and social care, and the recruitment industry is doing its part to help. However, they employ almost one million temporary agency workers who are currently shut out of levy-funded training. A flexible skills levy would allow recruiters to provide quality training for temps which would help them progress at work, earn more and fill some of these vital roles. At this critical time for the UK, skills matter more than ever. It is time for this policy to be redesigned in order to boost productivity and help workers to learn and progress.”