The Essex Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Service has helped Essex County Council share its levy with Kilkee Lodge to fund two apprentices. 

Kilkee Lodge are a residential home for older people. Offering a dignified lifestyle in pleasant surroundings with the focus on ability and freedom of choice, rather than disability and rigid routine. Kilkee Lodge provides an active and stimulating environment and offers a wide range of activities taylor made for each resident.

Kilkee Lodge were able to offer two apprenticeships thanks to the shared levy funds received from Essex County Council. We spoke with Samantha Reeves, the Home Manager at Kilkee Lodge about her experience of using the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Service.

What value does Apprenticeship training give to your organisation/personnel?

Apprenticeship training provides the staff with knowledge and the skills they require to perform their work well. It gives them the opportunity to further their career.

How did you find out about the Essex Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Service?

I was informed by our training provider Acacia Training that it was operating in the area

How easy did you find the service to use and the levy transfer process?

I found it extremely easy to use with the support from Acacia Training who are providing the apprenticeships

How will a levy transfer benefit your organisation?

We are a small organisation and need this to help our organisation be able to offer and supply the same things as our larger competitors. We need to be able to provide staff with good training, this will help to retain staff and recruit staff.

"We are very happy to be able to access training for our staff through the levy transfer scheme and it has benefited us greatly. We have already seen a positive impact on our staff and residents as the staff progress through their training enabled by the transfer and we look forward to their future development. We would definitely recommend the scheme."

Samantha Reeves – Home Manager

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Essex County Council have developed a number of initiatives to create employment opportunities for Essex residents. Developing the Essex Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Service was one of those initiatives, through creating a simple solution to assist businesses to share their levy to create apprenticeship opportunities. The council has also been able to use the service to share some of their own levy including funding 2 apprentices for Kilkee lodge

When did Essex County Council first share their levy?

ECC made their first levy transfer in November 2020, supporting a nursing apprenticeship in the social care sector

What message can Essex County Council give to other organisations considering sharing their levy?

Just do it! There is so much value to be gained from enabling other organisations to provide these opportunities (apprenticeship training). It is not only the right thing to do in terms of corporate social responsibility, but by transferring funding we are having a direct impact on both businesses and residents of Essex and we are able to direct the funds to places we feel are important. When unspent apprenticeship levy funding is recouped by central government we have no say about where those funds go.

What value does Essex County Council gain from sharing their levy?

ECC gain immense value from this, not just from investing in the economy of Essex by making the Levy Transfer Service available to businesses, but from enabling Essex residents to develop their skills which in turn creates further opportunities down the line.