Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of employer investment in skills training since 2017.

According to the Employer Skills Survey, a biennial site level survey of tens of thousands of employers across the UK, total employer expenditure on training fell by 17% in the UK between 2017 and 2024.

The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017 to support employers to invest in high-quality apprenticeships training and to ensure sustainable funding for all employers of all sizes.

We continue to engage with industry to support the upskilling and training of employees. The reforms set out in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper support adult skills training for industries across our economy through the Growth and Skills Levy (which received an additional £725m of investment at Budget 2025), the Adult Skills Fund, and the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will be available from academic year 2026/27.

We will work with business and employers over the coming months to ensure that the Growth and Skills Levy offer is developed to help meet their needs and incentivise employer investment in training.