Building Futures terms & conditions

Building Futures 3 - Terms & Conditions (v1)

Eligibility

Building Futures support is subject to availability and eligibility.
Enhanced support offered through Building Futures is open to organisations with a trading address within the South Norfolk or Broadland district boundary.
The Building Futures package of support is designed to provide enhanced wraparound advice and guidance to employers with limited experience of apprenticeships and are not subject to the growth and skills levy formerly apprenticeship levy) I.e. annual business payroll is under £3m.
Applicants are expected to understand and comply with the current/relevant Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) funding rules, outlining eligibility for apprenticeships.
For due diligence in determining financial foresight, Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) will facilitate a cost forecast for the duration of the apprenticeship based on wage identified by employer.
As part of this forecasting, we will advise on central government apprenticeship incentives/grants employers may also qualify for.
Employers eligible for the Building Futures grant may also apply for the Levy Support Scheme (also facilitated by Apprenticeships Norfolk, Norfolk County Council) to provide a Levy Transfer if the businesses is required to co-invest the 5% contribution to the apprenticeship training cost. Approval for this will be determined separately by the terms & conditions of the Levy Support Scheme. The Levy Support Scheme and Building Futures grant are unrelated and not dependent on each other in any capacity.
Building Futures employers and their apprentices will be offered the opportunity to participate in Talent Together (also managed by Apprenticeships Norfolk, Norfolk County Council), a peer mentoring matching programme. Approval for this will be determined separately by the terms & conditions of Talent Together. Talent Together and Building Futures are unrelated and not dependent on each other in any capacity.

Grant eligibility

Building Futures grants are designed to support the onboarding costs of a new apprentice.
Grants are awarded subject to availability and eligibility.
Grants are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Grants are only available to employers who have hired a new apprentice after receiving the enhanced support offered though Building Futures.
Grants cannot be applied for retrospectively if an apprentice is already employed and/or has started their apprenticeship programme.
Grants are not available to employers looking to upskill existing members of staff through an apprenticeship.
Grants cannot be provided to organisations intending to proceed with the hire of a new apprentice regardless of receiving support.
Grants are limited to one per employer. This includes all grants awarded in previous iterations of Building Futures.
Grants are limited to one per apprentice. This includes all grants awarded in previous iterations of Building Futures.
Grant applications will be accepted from 17th July 2026 until further notice.
Building Futures Grants are provided in addition to any nationally available Government grants and incentives. More information on UK Government apprenticeship grants and incentives can be found here - https://www.apprenticeshipsnorfolk.org/article/72448/Government-incentives

Two grants are available through Building Futures:

£500 Micro-grant
- Available to employers meeting the above criteria and are eligible for additional apprenticeship grant(s)/incentive(s) from UK Government.
£1,000 Discretional grant
- Available to employers meeting the above criteria and are not eligible for additional apprenticeship grant(s)/incentive(s) from UK Government.

Eligibility guidance for UK Government grants, and how you can claim these, will be provided by Apprenticeships Norfolk during apprenticeship wage forecasting.
UK Government grants are not managed or processed through Apprenticeships Norfolk.
Once all £1,000 discretional grants have been claimed, eligible employers may apply for the £500 micro-grant.
Grants will be processed once Apprenticeships Norfolk have received confirmation from the training provider that the apprentice has started on their training programme.
Grants provided through Building Futures are considered as subsidies as outlined in the UK Subsidy Control Act 2022 (previously State Aid). Find more information in the Subsidy control guide. It is our responsibility to ensure that any business receiving a subsidy through Building Futures does not breach their total receipt threshold of £315,000 over the previous 3 financial years.

Grant application

Grant applications must be fully completed, including bipartite electronic signatures (via AdobeSign) from both employer and training provider.
Both successful & unsuccessful applications/claims will be notified by email to the employer and training provider.
Applications can only be approved, with funds reserved, once the training provider and apprentice have been confirmed.
Once approved, Apprenticeships Norfolk will reserve the funds for a maximum of 3 months until the apprenticeship start.
Should the expected start date of the apprenticeship training be delayed, Apprenticeships Norfolk must be informed as soon as possible to confirm if the reservation of funds can be extended.
Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) reserve the right to manage grants on exception based on mitigating circumstances and/or available evidence. In the event of an exceptional decision, a final decision will be sought by South Norfolk & Broadland District Councils.
Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) reserves the right to recover all or part of the grant if any information provided in the application form or other correspondence is found to be substantially incorrect, misleading, or incomplete.
Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) reserves the right to contact the employer and/or apprentice at any time during the period of funding for evaluation purposes.
Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) require the employer to provide feedback after the incentive is issued. Follow up surveys are vital to help us understand if incentives are useful and can provide justification for future funding.

Appeals

Appeals procedure; Apprenticeships Norfolk (Norfolk County Council) reserve the right to complete audit checks to ensure applications are aligned to the above terms and conditions. Applications or claims not meeting the criteria will be deemed as unsuccessful. In the first instance a decision will be made by the awarding authority.
Applicants have the right to appeal this decision, if they believe the application does meet all the eligibility criteria and have additional or new supporting evidence to validate this. In the event of an appeal, a decision will be made by an independent party.
Appeals must be submitted within 14 working days, and appeal decisions will be communicated within 14 working days of being submitted. Appeal decisions made by the independent party will be final.

Note: Conditions will be self-certified by employer & signed as 'true and accurate to best of knowledge' - we will reserve the right complete audit checks & refuse payment if found to be in breach.