Financial incentives for small firms to employ apprentices and provide T Level placements should return under the new education secretary, a business group has said, as it will help one in five small employers to fill skills gaps.
And calls have been made for other measures to boost skills prospects such as free bus passes for apprentices, introducing skills bootcamps for people aged 50 and above to retrain, and a Kickstart-style scheme to help disabled people into work.
The Federation of Small Businesses has today published its Scaling up Skills report, and has called upon the new education secretary, to be appointed under a new prime minister next week, to help small businesses with their recruitment struggles by bolstering support and incentives for skills training.
