SOUTH Essex health trusts stand to lose millions of pounds which they have paid into a Government fund because it hasn’t been spent quickly enough.

New figures show that since 2017, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital Trust has paid £1.77million into apprenticeship levy scheme but has withdrawn just £409,193.

Southend Hospital Trust has paid £1.62million in and has withdrawn just £228,750.

The levy scheme is in place to fund training costs for apprentices and requires all employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3million to pay 0.5 per cent of their payroll into the scheme.

If it is not used within two years, the Government is able to take the money and place it into a central pot, which is accessible to smaller companies.

And freedom of information findings from Unison have revealed more than £6million remains unused by cash-strapped health trusts.

Unison has also highlighted that trusts that are taking on apprentices, including Mid Essex, Basildon and Southend, are only paying the statutory minimum of just £3.90 per hour. The trade union claims says this is so low that it is making it harder for hospitals to attract apprentices and utilise the funds.

Others are using the cash to retrain existing staff.

Tom Abell, chief transformation officer across Southend, Basildon and Mid Essex hospitals, said the hospitals have plans in place to spend £1.5million in apprenticeship training across the hospitals.

He added: “When it comes to entry level apprenticeship opportunities, we follow national apprenticeship salary guidelines of a £3.90 per hour rate.  This is in accordance with the principles of apprenticeships to develop the workforce, earning whilst they are learning.”

Southend councillor Matt Dent, a member of the people scrutiny committee, called the revelations “absolutely scandalous”.

He said: “This is money that could be used to employ apprentices in local health services which are struggling to recruit in the area, where we are trying to get more people into apprenticeships and into work, and yet this money out of the local health care budget is now at risk of being handed out to the private sector and in all likelihood outside of the local area.

“It is a national scandal and a cash grab from the NHS to the private sector on a massive scale.”

Thurrock councillor Victoria Holloway, who chairs the authority’s health overview and scrutiny committee, said: “You never want to see money going out of the NHS, it is completely unacceptable.”