14 February 2023
This week's update covers the following:
- T Level: Employer support fund
- Low Pay Commission regional visits 2023 – Your chance to be heard
- Labour market overview, UK: February 2023
- NHBF Campaigning for you
T Level: Employer support fund
During National Apprenticeship Week, the Government announced the creation of a £12m Employer Support Fund to reimburse employers for costs they incur for hosting industry placements for T Level students. The NHBF welcomed this package of significant additional funding to support T Level providers and employers.
From April 2023, employers can claim funding to cover legitimate costs associated with hosting a T Level industry placement student. This could include:
- set-up costs
- equipment
- staff training
Any employer who offers a suitable placement opportunity for a T Level student is eligible to claim for legitimate costs.
Claims cannot be made for placements that started before 1 April 2023.
Low Pay Commission regional visits 2023 – Your chance to be heard
Low Pay Commissioners will be meeting workers and businesses across the UK on six regional visits as they gather evidence for this year’s review. This is your chance to let them know how you are affected by the minimum wage, and the NHBF encourages Members to take the opportunity to speak directly to the Commissioners.
Each year, the Low Pay Commission (LPC) conducts field visits to collect evidence from workers, unions, campaigners, councils and employers on low-pay-related issues in their areas. The evidence they receive plays a crucial role in informing the commissioner's decisions on the pay rates recommended to the Government.
Click here for dates and venue information.
Labour market overview, UK: February 2023
The Government has released its latest estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.
The main points from this are:
- The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.6% from October to December 2022, 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous three-month period.
- From November 2022 to January 2023, the estimated number of vacancies fell by 76,000 in the quarter to 1,134,000, the seventh consecutive quarterly fall since May to July 2022. The fall in the number of vacancies reflects uncertainty across industries, as survey respondents continue to cite economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment.
- In real terms (adjusted for inflation), growth in total and regular pay fell in the year from October to December 2022, by 3.1% for total pay and by 2.5 for regular pay. This is smaller than the record fall in real total pay we saw from February to April 2009 (4.5%), but remains among the largest fall in growth since comparable records began in 2001.
NHBF Campaigning for you
Online Sales Tax: Policy Consultation – outcome
The Government published a summary of responses to the Online Sales Tax (OST) consultation carried out in 2022 last week. The NHBF is listed in the Government's report as we responded to the consultation arguing in favour of an online sales tax to level the playing field between high street businesses with bricks and mortar bases and businesses based online, not paying business rates.
The NHBF, in its response, called for business rates reform. However, there was no consensus from respondents on how to define an online sale for the purposes of such a tax, and there were concerns around the complexity of an OST adding to business burdens. There was also a concern that the cost of the OST would be passed through to consumers. As a result of this feedback, the Government decided not to go ahead with the policy.
However, in the Autumn Statement in 2022, the Government went ahead with the 2023 business rates revaluation. It recommitted to more frequent revaluations to make the system fairer, offering a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years to support businesses as they adjust to their new bills, including reform to Transitional Relief and a 75% relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector for 2023-24, worth over £2 billion for around 230, businesses.