Practice Learning Subsidy Scheme (SPL)

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Name of the instrument - Local language
Subsidieregeling Praktijkleren (SPL)
Name of the instrument - English translation
Practice Learning Subsidy Scheme (SPL)
Scheme ID
348
Country
Netherlands
Reporting year
2020
Type of instrument
Grant for companies
Sub-type of instrument
Support for direct costs and wage costs
Type of entry
Single instrument
Short description

Employers offering apprenticeships and work placements are eligible for the subsidy. The subsidy is an allowance towards the costs of an employer for the supervision of a pupil, participant or student, or an allowance towards the wage costs or supervision costs of a PhD candidate or trainee technological designer. The subsidy scheme focuses on:- vulnerable groups on the labour market for whom access to the labour market is a problem.- students following an education in sectors where there is a shortage of qualified personnel. - scientific personnel, who are indispensable to the Dutch knowledge economy.The grant covers four main types of education, this is: - Students who follow a learn-work trajectory in VMBO; - MBO students who follow a vocational guidance path (BBL); - Students who follow a dual or part-time higher professional education program; - PhD students and technological designers in training.The maximum subsidy amount is of EUR 2 700 000 per practical or work experience placement realised. De-minimis rules apply fro this grant.

Not applicable
Level of operation
National
Name of a part of the country
Not applicable
Name of the region (for regional instruments)
Not applicable
Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)
Not applicable
Relevance
Key instrument
https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0007746/2020-01-01https://wetten.overhei…
Objective(s) and target(s)
The aim of this scheme is to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships and work placements through the provision of subsidies. The subsidy is an allowance towards the costs of an employer for the supervision of a pupil, participant or student, or an allowance towards the wage costs or supervision costs of a PhD candidate or trainee technological designer.
Year of implementation
1995
Year of latest amendment
2019
Operation/management
The budget comes from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Without prejudice to supervision by the Education Inspectorate, officials employed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, insofar as they perform work for the implementation of these regulations, shall be charged with supervising compliance with the provisions of these regulations. Any employer can submit a subsidy application electronically via the website 'www.agentschapnl.nl/praktijkleren'. The subsidy amount per completed apprenticeship or work placement is calculated on the basis of the amount available for the category concerned divided by the number of completed apprenticeships or work placements that qualify for a subsidy for that category, with a maximum of EUR 2 700 per completed apprenticeship or work placement. Until 2023, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) provides annual subsidies. The distribution of the budget over the education categories in 2020 is as follows: (NLQF 1-3) vmbo/VSO/PRO EUR 1.3 million / (NLQF 2-4) MBO EUR 194.8 million / (NLQF5-7) Hbo EUR 4.0 million / (NLQF6-8) PhD students/trainees EUR 2.8 million.
Eligible group(s)
The subsidy is an allowance for an employer for the costs he incurs for the supervision of a pupil, participant, student or PhD student. An employer is understood to mean the company or organisation that provides the training in the practice of the profession for the participant. Employers can qualify for a subsidy for the following education categories and levels of education, whereby different conditions may apply per education category: - vulnerable groups on the labour market for whom access to the labour market is a problem.- students following an education in sectors where there is a shortage of qualified personnel.- scientific personnel, who are indispensable to the Dutch knowledge economy.
Group(s) with preferential treatment
No preferential treatment
Education and training eligible
The grant covers four main types of education, this is: - Students who follow a learn-work trajectory in VMBO; - MBO students who follow a vocational guidance path (BBL); - Students who follow a dual or part-time higher professional education program; - PhD students and technological designers in training.
Source of financing and collection mechanism
The funding is public, coming from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW)
Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
The subsidy is a contribution towards the wages and guidance costs incurred by an employer. The subsidy provides a contribution towards the costs incurred during the practical guidance and amounts to a maximum of EUR 2 700 per practical or work experience placement per school year. The amount of the subsidy depends on the number of weeks in which the participant received practical training during the school/study year. The employer applies for the subsidy after the supervision has ended. The school year (for vmbo, VSO, PRO, entrance in vmbo and mbo) runs from 1 August to 31 July. The academic year (for hbo, PhD students and PhD students) runs from 1 September to 31 August. The conditions for the Practical Training Scheme differ per educational category.
Eligible costs
The subsidy is an allowance towards the costs of an employer for the supervision of a pupil, participant or student, or an allowance towards the wage costs or supervision costs of a PhD candidate or trainee technological designer.
Volumes of funding
2018 = EUR 201 500 0002019 = EUR 204 048 0002020 = EUR 212 600 000
Beneficiaries/take up
Employers and employees/trainees. In year 2017, 23 630 enterprises participated, whereas in 2019 this figure increased up to 27 000 enterprises. The large majoruty of them corresponded to microenterprises (approximately 33%), whereas large companies represented approximately a 4.5% of the total
Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
Rijksdienst voor Ondernmeend Nederland (Netherlands Enterprise Agency)
Monitoring/evaluation reports available
https://www.regioplan.nl/project/subsidieregeling-praktijkleren-2014-20…
Most relevant webpage - in English
Not available
Most relevant webpage - local language
www.rvo.nl
Recent changes

2019 was the recent amendment of the already for long existing measure. In 2019, an extension was announced till 2023, also mentioning the annual budgets. The Subsidy Scheme for Apprenticeships was extended in January 2020 with an extra compartment in the 2019/2020 to 2021/2022 academic years for recognised training companies in the agriculture, catering and recreation sectors. Companies in these sectors can apply for an extra subsidy on top of the usual subsidy for practical training if they offer an apprenticeship. All other sectors, public and private, were already covered by the measure and can keep on working with the measure under the normal budget provision.

Recent changes in response to COVID-19

The Cabinet has announced measures in relation to the coronavirus. As a result, employers may face forced closure from 16 March 2020 to 19 May 2020. The amount of the subsidy for practical training depends on the number of weeks that a training company supervises a BBL student. For employers facing forced closure up to and including 19 May, the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) will not deduct from the subsidy the weeks in which they were unable to supervise BBL students. The same applies to businesses which, although not forced to close down, had to do so because continuation of the business, in compliance with the RIVM guidelines, was not justified.

Sources
REGIOPLAN - EINDRAPPORT - Subsidieregeling praktijkleren Auteurs: Kees van Bergen, Bjųrn Dekker, Marga de Weerd Amsterdam, 4 mei 2018 Publicatienr. 17210
https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0034144/2018-12-06
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