Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of higher technical qualifications approved for delivery in 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In September 2024, there were 227 qualifications awarded the HTQ quality mark and approved for delivery in the 2024/25 academic year. A further 39 qualifications were awarded the HTQ quality mark between September 2024 and August 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people currently work for Skills England.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

As of May 2026, Skills England employs 252 people.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people were employed by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in 2023.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The average number of full-time equivalent (FTE) persons employed by IfATE in 2023/2024 is 332. This is a monthly average across the financial year. This information can be found attached in The Annual report and Accounts for 2023/2024.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government which colleges have been designated as technical excellence colleges specializing in construction skills.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government has designated ten Construction Technical Excellence Colleges (CTECs), comprising one in every region of the country and one cross-regional CTEC. The designated colleges are:

• Derby College Group, East Midlands.
• West Suffolk College, East of England.
• New City College, Greater London.
• City of Sunderland College, North East.
• Wigan and Leigh College, North West.
• North Kent College, South East.
• Exeter College, South West.
• Bedford College, cross-regional.
• Dudley College of Technology, West Midlands.
• Leeds College of Building, Yorkshire and the Humber.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many training places in construction skills boot camps have been delivered since April 2025.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Skills Bootcamp starts by financial year, including breakdowns by sector, are published here. Releases - Skills bootcamps starts, completions and outcomes - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK

The latest published figures show there were 60,410 starts in the 2023-24 financial year, of which 6,820 were in the construction, planning and built environment sector.

Starts, completions and outcomes data for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years are scheduled to be published in winter 2026/27 and winter 2027/28 respectively.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £600 million construction skills package announced on 23 March 2025 has been spent to date.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

For financial year 2025-26, publicly available information shows the government spent £78 million of its £80 million budget.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many industry placements have been organized by the Construction Industry Training Board since April 2025, and at what cost.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Employers and further education training providers are responsible for arranging and delivering industry placements, in line with policy and funding provided by the Department for Education.

The Government announced in March 2025 that it would provide £100 million to support over 40,000 construction industry placements each year for eligible Level 2 and Level 3 learners, as part of a wider package to train up to 60,000 additional construction workers by 2029.

The CITB does not organise industry placements and has therefore not incurred any associated costs. It is, however, supporting the Government's commitment to increase the impact of industry placements in construction, alongside a planned contribution of £32 million of funding. The details of this support are currently being developed, with delivery expected to commence in the 2027 financial year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many apprentices aged (1) 18 or under, (2) 19–24, and (3) 25 and over, were employed in 2025 by employers with an annual pay bill of (a) between £3 million and £3.25 million, and (b) over £3.25 million.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

All UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the levy. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for collecting the levy on behalf of the government. HMRC publishes data on UK apprenticeship levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk. In England, levy paying employers access Government funding for apprenticeships through their employer accounts, which they must set up.

Currently, employers who exhaust the funding in their levy accounts, which includes a 10% Government top-up, can continue to enrol apprentices, with government funding 95% of their training costs for a small contribution of 5%. From August 2026, government will fund 75% of the training and assessment costs once funds are exhausted.

We understand, from our engagement with employers and other stakeholders, that employers with smaller levy balances may be more affected by this change and we will carefully monitor the impact of this change as we implement it.

The department does not publish apprenticeship starts by size of employer pay bill, including starts by size of employer pay bill broken down by age.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many apprenticeship levy-paying employers have an annual pay bill of between £3 million and £3.25 million; whether they assessed the impact of the increase in the employer co-investment rate for starters from 1 August 2026 on recruitment of apprentices by such employers; and if so, what plans they have to publish that assessment.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

All UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the levy. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for collecting the levy on behalf of the government. HMRC publishes data on UK apprenticeship levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk. In England, levy paying employers access Government funding for apprenticeships through their employer accounts, which they must set up.

Currently, employers who exhaust the funding in their levy accounts, which includes a 10% Government top-up, can continue to enrol apprentices, with government funding 95% of their training costs for a small contribution of 5%. From August 2026, government will fund 75% of the training and assessment costs once funds are exhausted.

We understand, from our engagement with employers and other stakeholders, that employers with smaller levy balances may be more affected by this change and we will carefully monitor the impact of this change as we implement it.

The department does not publish apprenticeship starts by size of employer pay bill, including starts by size of employer pay bill broken down by age.

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Found: Baroness Penn Lord Prentis of Leeds Lord Razzall Lord Reid of Cardowan Baroness Wheatcroft Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Liddle; Lord Newby; Baroness Penn; Lord Prentis of Leeds; Lord Razzall; Baroness Wheatcroft; Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Petitgas Lord Prentis of Leeds Lord Razzall Lord Reid of Cardowan Baroness Wheatcroft Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

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Found: Petitgas Lord Prentis of Leeds Lord Razzall Lord Reid of Cardowan Baroness Wheatcroft Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

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Found: Petitgas; Lord Prentis of Leeds; Lord Razzall; Lord Reid of Cardowan; Baroness Wheatcroft; Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Baroness Penn Lord Petitgas Lord Prentis of Leeds Lord Razzall Baroness Wheatcroft Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Carrington of Fulham; Lord Newby; Baroness Penn; Lord Petitgas; Lord Prentis of Leeds; Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Newby Baroness Penn Lord Prentis of Leeds Lord Reid of Cardowan Baroness Wheatcroft Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

Found: Newby; Baroness Penn; Lord Prentis of Leeds; Lord Reid of Cardowan; Baroness Wheatcroft; Baroness Wolf of Dulwich

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