The scheme is aimed at those sectors with non-traditional employment patterns, mainly those that are project-based, to create an option that suits such areas better than a standard apprenticeship. The current scheme plans:

• The creation of a new register of flexi-job apprenticeship agencies that will employ apprentices and hire them out to individual host organisations.
• Among other things, agencies applying for registration will have to demonstrate that their apprenticeships will meet the needs of employers, offer a high-quality experience for the apprentices themselves and achieve financial sustainability.
• Registered agencies will be granted access to a £7 million flexi-job apprenticeship fund.

Applications for registration and access to the fund close on 6 October 2021, with the government expecting to admit the first agencies onto the register and announce funding grants in December 2021.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/flexi-job-apprenticeships-reshaping-the-role-of-apprenticeship-training-agencies

A survey of 250 firms by the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has revealed that one in five plan to make redundancies as the furlough scheme winds down during August and September 2021. A quarter said they would aim to reduce hours or move staff to part-time working patterns.

The BCC has called for the government to extend skills training as older workers are much more likely to still be on furlough, there is concern that they could go unutilised unless support for retraining is immediately put in place.

https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2021/08/retraining-essential-as-1-in-5-firms-consider-redundancies-post-furlough

As an employer, you have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as for any other workers. Employers must conduct a ‘suitable and sufficient’ risk assessment of their employees’ work and workplace, including any work from home.

If the employer is not able to carry out a full risk assessment due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they should provide their employees with information on working safely at home. This could include asking employees to carry out a self-assessment of their workspace and equipment.

https://www.acas.org.uk/working-from-home/health-safety-and-wellbeing