ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

January 1 saw the official launch of the Level 2 Cleaning Hygiene Operative Apprenticeship in the UK - and an appeal has been made to cleaning sector firms to take advantage of rules on gifting funds to allow more industry apprentices to be supported.

Cleaning Hygiene Operative Apprenticeships offer the opportunity for sector organisations to use Apprenticeship Levy payments to invest in their staff, providing employees an opportunity to access a recognised work-related cleaning qualification.

All sector employers with an annual wage bill of more than £3 million (€3.49 million) pay the Apprenticeship Levy and can use Levy payments to implement the Apprenticeship Standard in their businesses, as could smaller businesses which have been gifted Levy payments.

The British Cleaning Council (BCC) is calling on larger businesses to gift or transfer unused Levy funds to smaller businesses which otherwise would not be able to fund Cleaning Hygiene Operative Apprenticeships.

Employers can choose to transfer up to 25 percent of their Levy funds each year to other businesses to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment, via their apprenticeship service account, which can be set up online.

BCC says the benefits of gifting include:

• Helping build stronger relationships between businesses and promoting collaboration
• Supporting more apprentices and a more skilled workforce across the sector
• Providing SMEs with financial support for training and development.

For more information about the Level 2 Cleaning Hygiene Operative Apprenticeship, visit: britishcleaningcouncil.org/apprenticeships