The UK Government has announced that it will provide £138 million to the Welsh Government from the upcoming Apprenticeship Levy.

The new levy is being introduced from 06 April next year and is payable by all employers operating in the UK with an annual pay bill over £3 million.

Overall, it aims to hep fund increased and improved apprenticeship training.

News of the funding has been welcomed by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Cymru.

However, Director Ifan Glyn said the difference between the Welsh Government's £111m Apprenticeship Fund and what it will receive from central Government is now "painfully obvious".

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"Given the severe skills shortages this country faces, the Welsh Government is wrong to use funds collected via the Apprenticeship Levy to plug funding gaps elsewhere," he said.

"The overall health of the Welsh economy partly rests on the construction sector delivering the housing and infrastructure projects that are currently underway or will be commencing shortly, such as the expansion of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road or the building of the new Wylfa nuclear power station.

"The Welsh Government must ensure that there are sufficient numbers of skilled workers available, or else these projects will be held back or made significantly more expensive. The budget announced by the Welsh Government last month is only provisional and we therefore urge Welsh Ministers to change course and commit to ring-fencing every penny collected from Westminster via the Apprenticeship Levy for investment in training and apprenticeships."

(LM/MH)