1.1       Eligibility for Industry Training Fund Funding (excluding ITF direct funding scheme)

This Condition applies to you if:

(a)  you receive Industry Training Fund Funding, and

(b)  you are not funded through the ITF direct funding scheme.

You must, for the length of the Funding Period, continue to be an ITO that is fully or provisionally recognised by the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment under the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992. 

1.2       Eligibility for ITF direct funding scheme

This Condition applies to you if you receive Industry Training Fund Funding through the ITF direct funding scheme. 

You must, for the length of the Funding Period, continue to:

(a) be one of the following:

(i)  an employer, or

(ii)  a group of employers or industry associations that are part of a consortium arrangement, and

(b)  have at least 40 industry trainees each year who:

(i)   are actively training towards one or more of the qualifications and programmes set out in paragraph 3.1, and

(ii)  meet specified industry trainee criteria set out in paragraph 2.1.

2.1       Industry Trainee eligibility

You must ensure that Industry Training Fund Funding is only used in respect of an industry trainee who is, and continues to be, for the length of the Funding Period:

(a)   one of the following:

(i)    an employee who is employed and working in New Zealand and has a training agreement with his or her employer, or

(ii)   a self-employed contractor working in New Zealand under an arrangement with an organisation in the nature of employment, who has a training agreement with that organisation, or

(iii)   a person volunteering in New Zealand under an arrangement with an organisation in the nature of employment, who has a training agreement with that organisation, and where we have granted permission for the person volunteering to access funded training, and

(b)   16 years of age or over (unless the industry trainee has an early leaving exemption certificate from the Ministry of Education).

2.2       New Zealand Apprenticeship eligibility

You must ensure that Industry Training Fund Funding is only used in respect of a New Zealand Apprentice enrolled in a New Zealand Apprenticeship who is, and continues to be, for the length of the Funding Period:

(a)   one of the following:

(i)    an employee who is employed and working in New Zealand and has a training agreement with his or her employer, or

(ii)   a self-employed contractor working in New Zealand under an arrangement with an organisation in the nature of employment, who has a training agreement with that organisation.

(b)   16 years of age or over (unless the apprentice has an early leaving exemption certificate from the Ministry of Education), and

(c)   employed in the occupation for which he or she is training, and

(d)   supported by a training plan agreed by the New Zealand Apprentice, the employer, and the organisation arranging the training, throughout the New Zealand Apprenticeship programme, and

(e)   enrolled in a New Zealand Apprenticeship as specified in paragraph 3.1(a)(v) (i.e. Condition: Eligible programmes of study and training).

2.3       Verification

(a)   You must verify the identity of each industry trainee and apprentice enrolled in a programme of training by doing one or more of the following:

(i)    confirming that all data fields match the industry trainee's or apprentice's NSN, or

(ii)   receiving an assertion through the Department of Internal Affairs’ RealMe® online identity verification service, or

(iii)   sighting the original or certified copy of the industry trainee's or apprentice's current passport, or

(iv)   sighting the original or certified copy of one or more of the following documents:

(A)  a birth certificate (issued after 1 January 1998), or

(B)  a certificate of identity, or

(C)  a New Zealand certificate of citizenship, or

(D)  an expired passport that has not been cancelled, or

(E)  a current New Zealand Firearms Licence, or

(F)  a current New Zealand photo driver licence. 

(b)  If an industry trainee or apprentice is unable to obtain a birth certificate for the purposes of (a)(iv)(A) above, you must contact us to confirm that a whakapapa statement signed by both the industry trainee or apprentice and a kaumātua is acceptable evidence of identity.

(c)   For the purposes of this Condition, a certified copy is a photocopy, photograph or scanned copy that has been endorsed as a true copy of the original. To be certified, the document must:

(i)    be certified by an official of the issuing authority or a person authorised by law in New Zealand to certify documents, such as a Justice of the Peace, a lawyer or a court official (Court Registrar or Deputy Registrar), and

(ii)   have the official's signature on each page, with the name and title of the official shown clearly below his or her signature.

3.1  Eligible programmes of study and training

You must only use Industry Training Fund Funding for a programme of study or training if the programme:

(a)  is, and continues to be, for the length of the Funding Period one of the following:

(i)   a programme of training leading to a National or New Zealand Certificate, or

(ii)  a programme of training leading to a National or New Zealand Diploma, or

(iii)  a Limited Credit Programme that:

(A)  is designed to encourage entry into a full qualification, and

(B)  has a minimum of 20 credits and a maximum of 70 credits, and

(C)  is composed of skill standards drawn from a programme that leads to a qualification for which you have funding approval from us, and

(D)  meets any other criteria as specified by us, or

(iv)  a Supplementary Credit Programme that:

(A)  is designed to provide post-qualification skill development, and

(B)  has a minimum of 20 credits and a maximum of 70 credits, and

(C)  is composed of skill standards drawn from a programme that leads to a qualification for which you have funding approval from us, or

(v)   a TEC-approved New Zealand Apprenticeship programme that meets any criteria we set to ensure that the programme is focussed on level 4 outcomes, and leads to either:

(A)   a qualification at level 4 on the NZQF that has a minimum of 120 credits and, if approved by us, additional qualifications at level 3 or 4 on the NZQF, or

(B)   multiple qualifications that together have at least 120 credits, provided those qualifications are at level 3 and 4 on the NZQF, and at least 60 credits are at level 4 on the NZQF, and

(b)   continues to include a majority of on-job training, and

(c)    continues to meet any quality assurance requirements of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and

(d)    if the programme leads to a qualification at level 1, 2, or 3 on the NZQF, includes embedded literacy and numeracy, and

(e)     does not include learning that can be defined as:

(i)      a programme designed primarily to equip a participant with the skills and knowledge he or she needs to carry out a given task or function in a manner that complies with a specific health and safety or regulatory compliance requirement, or

(ii)     learning that displaces the responsibility of employers to provide training necessary to mitigate health and safety, and legal risks, and

(f)     is not a programme:

(i)     that contains health and safety and regulatory compliance learning, and

(ii)    where it is likely that most enrolments will lead only to the completion of the health and safety or regulatory compliance components, rather than the whole qualification.

3.2   Limit on training above level 4 on the NZQF

You must not spend more than 10% of the funding from the Industry Training Fund you have received for training above level 4 on the NZQF, unless you have approval from us.

3.3   Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool

You must use the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool to identify the literacy and numeracy needs of each industry trainee and apprentice for whom Industry Training Fund Funding is provided and measure the industry trainee's progress, as required by us.

(a)       You must not:

(i)        deliver training yourself, and

(ii)       have any ownership stake in, or be a beneficiary of, an organisation with which you arrange to deliver training.

(b)       If we have advised you that a trainee is eligible for fee-free tertiary education provision, you must:

(i)        invoice us for the trainee's actual and reasonable training and assessment fees (as determined by us), including off-job provision; and

(ii)       not charge the trainee, or the trainee's employer, for those fees.

(c)       For the purposes of this Condition, and Condition 6.2, "fees" are defined as fees for training and assessment, including fees paid:

(i)        to you;

(ii)       directly to training and assessment providers; and

(iii)       as part of fees-charged by group training schemes.

You must not claim Industry Training Fund Funding for recognised prior learning credited to an industry trainee or apprentice.

To ensure that you are able to comply with this Condition, you must:

(a)   ask each industry trainee or apprentice to specify all prior learning he or she has undertaken

(b)   review the information provided by the industry trainee or apprentice when admitting him or her into a programme or qualification, and

(c)    retain documents that confirm that the industry trainee or apprentice has demonstrated the required knowledge or skill.

For the avoidance of doubt, the limit on Funding of recognised prior learning does not apply to repeated learning undertaken because a quality assurance body requires an industry trainee or apprentice to repeat training periodically.

6.1       Industry Training Register

You must:

(a)   supply to us information about each industry trainee and apprentice enrolled in a programme or qualification by completing the fields in the Industry Training Register (ITR), and

(b)   submit the information through the ITR on or before the date which is 90 days after the training commenced, and

(c)   ensure that each industry trainee who is volunteering is identified as a volunteer through the ITR.

For more information about using the ITR, please refer to the ITR User Guide or the ITR schema definition document.

6.2       Information relating to priority groups and fees-free tertiary education initiative

(a)     If we notify you that we require information relating to activities that support priority groups (such as Māori or Pasifika industry trainees or apprentices), you must supply the requested information to us.

(b)    If you offer fees-free tertiary education eligible training programmes, you must:

(i)     in 2018, work collaboratively with us to give effect to the fees-free tertiary education initiative within the Industry Training Fund;

(ii)     advise us of the total applicable amount charged to eligible trainees and their employers for training and assessment in the eligible training programmes;

(iii)    provide information that we require, to enable us to assess the eligibility of trainees for fees-free tertiary education provision;

(iv)    provide us with information we require in relation to fees; and

(v)    comply with any requirements established by us to enable us to understand the consumption of industry training by eligible trainees. 

6.3       Employment outcomes of tertiary education

You must consent, in writing, for the purposes of section 37A(a) of the Statistics Act 1975, to Statistics New Zealand disclosing information to the Ministry of Education from its Integrated Data Infrastructure that identities you.

You acknowledge:

(a)    that the Statistics Act 1975 does not constrain the ongoing use or sharing of the ITO-level data once it is disclosed, and your individual confidentiality may not be maintained, and

(b)    this Condition is to enable education agencies to work with ITOs on the analysis of employment outcomes information and the design of suitable indicators.

If you meet the criteria to be a “qualifying ITO” described in paragraph 7.1 and meet the criteria for eligibility for additional funding described in paragraph 7.2, we will allocate you the additional funding described in paragraph 7.3.

7.1       Criteria to be a “qualifying ITO”

To be a “qualifying ITO”, you must:

(a)  have a NZQA External Evaluation and Review (EER) rating of Category 1 or 2, and

(b)  have a credit achievement rate of 70% or higher for apprentices in the calendar year.

7.2       Criteria for eligibility for additional funding for New Zealand Apprenticeships

If you are a qualifying ITO, we will allocate you additional Industry Training Fund Funding, over and above what we have approved for your Investment Plan, if the value of provision you actually deliver after offsets as measured in dollars (as determined by us) is greater than the value of your approved funding allocation. Delivery will be calculated over a calendar year.

7.3       Additional funding

(a)  The additional funding available to be allocated annually is up to the following limits, either:

(i)    2% of your approved funding allocation for New Zealand Apprenticeships, or

(ii)   10 STMs.

whichever is greater.

7.4       Availability of further funding

We may establish criteria to allocate funding above the additional funding limits described in paragraph 7.3, provided we have assessed whether we have sufficient funding available to provide funding above those limits.

8.1       Industry trainees

This Condition applies to you if you receive Industry Training Fund Funding for industry trainees.

You must keep a record of evidence that each industry trainee has a formal training agreement with his or her employer that is intended to lead to the achievement of one or more of the qualifications or programmes set out in paragraph 3.1 (Condition: Eligible programmes of study and training).

8.2       New Zealand Apprentices

This Condition applies to you if you receive Industry Training Fund Funding for New Zealand Apprentices.

You must keep:

(a)   a record of evidence that each apprentice has a formal training agreement with his or her employer that is intended to lead to the achievement of one or more of the qualifications or programmes set out in 3.1, and

(b)   a permanent record of evidence that each New Zealand Apprentice has completed his or her apprenticeship.

You must:

(a)   not subcontract your functions without our written consent, and

(b)   comply with any conditions we impose on a consent, and

(c)   ensure that the subcontracted party does not further subcontract any of your functions.

You must ensure that each employer of industry trainees or apprentices who are enrolled with you makes a financial contribution towards the cost of each industry trainee’s or apprentice's training, except to the extent that financial costs of training and assessment for a trainee or apprentice who is eligible for the fees-free initiative are met by the Industry Training Fund and the fees-free tertiary education initiative.

You must meet any minimum performance standards that we set.  In particular, you must ensure that at least 80% of industry trainees and apprentices achieve at least 10 credits where their enrolments were eligible for funding for four months or more in the calendar year.

You must not apply Industry Training Fund Funding for more than 75 nominal credits in a calendar year in relation to any industry trainee or apprentice who you have enrolled. 

If you receive Industry Training Fund Funding for an industry trainee who is a New Zealand Apprentice, you must ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that the New Zealand Apprenticeship activities, and every training plan for a New Zealand Apprenticeship, are consistent with the Code of Good Practice for New Zealand Apprenticeships issued by the Minister under the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992.

(a)  If you receive funding that is greater than it should have been, or that you were not entitled to receive, you must treat the amount of the over-funding as a debt due to the Crown that:

(i)   is repayable on demand, and

(ii)  may be set-off against all or any funding, or any sum payable by us to you.

Definition of "funding that is greater than it should have been"

(b) The extent to which you will have received funding from the Industry Training Fund that was greater than it should have been must be calculated by applying paragraphs (i) to (v) in the order that they appear:

(i)  if you do not arrange delivery of training during the funding period up to the dollar value for which it has been funded (in that situation, we will separately recover funding for industry trainees, and apprentices, based on the rates of funding that apply), and

(ii)  if the actual average duration of a programme of training exceeds the nominal duration of a programme (over-duration) to the extent of the over-duration, and

(iii)  if an individual industry trainee or apprentice has been enrolled in more than 10 nominal credits in any calendar month at one or more ITOs (monthly over-enrolment), to the extent of the annual over-enrolment, and

(iv)  if an individual industry trainee or apprentice has been enrolled in more than 75 nominal credits over the calendar year (annual over-enrolment), and

(v)    if less than 80% of the industry trainees and apprentices achieve the minimum of 10 credits where their enrolments were eligible for funding for four months or more in the calendar year (under-achievement), we will deduct funding for each percentage point below 80% up to a maximum of 5.0% of the net funding.

For information about the calculation of ‘over-duration, ‘over-enrolment’ and ‘under-achievement’, refer to the methodology for calculating standard training measures and offsets.

If we suspend or revoke some or all of your Industry Training Fund Funding under section 159YG of the Education Act before some or all of that Funding has been used or contractually committed towards the purposes for which the Funding was provided, you must treat the unexpended or uncommitted portion of the Funding as debt due to the Crown that is:

(a)   repayable on demand by us, and

(b)   may be set-off against all or any funding, or any sum payable by us to you.