Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that property developers are required to provide apprenticeships.

Employers, including property developers, are able to choose which apprenticeships they offer and when, in order to build the skilled workforces they need. No employers are required to provide apprenticeships.

There are 99 employer-designed apprenticeship standards in the construction and built environment sector that employers can choose from, including Bricklayer at Level 2 to Construction Site Management (degree) at Level 6. There were 24,530 apprenticeship starts in construction, planning and the built environment in the 2022/23 academic year.

Last year, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education reviewed the content and funding of 25 of these standards to ensure they reflect the technological developments and to maintain quality, with the government increasing the funding by 25% on average, including a 40% increase to the Bricklayer standard to £13,000.

The government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 to support employers of all sizes and in all sectors to utilise high-quality apprenticeships.