Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2015
That clarity is incredibly important. We know that the levy rate will be 0.5 per cent of pay bills above £3 million, so we think that companies with more than 120 employees will be caught. It is unfortunate that we still do not have clarity on how Scotland’s share of the levy will be calculated, because many of the companies that are caught will be cross border, and some employees will be based in Scotland while others will be based elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Once we have clarity, I will work directly with employers and other stakeholders to explore how the funding from the levy will benefit employers and young people and support the growth and enhancement of our successful apprenticeship programme. As I said, I am working with my counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland, who have similar issues with the UK Government on the lack of clarity on the levy.