Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to increase the number of apprentices in the rail industry.

The department is committed to increasing the number of apprentices in the industry, as we set out in the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy in 2016, working with the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce. We have been pleased to see increased numbers of apprentices in both road and rail, including in the supply chain.

We continue to work closely with industry on the skills agenda during this challenging period including through the continuation of apprenticeship programmes.

We also recognise the importance of schemes that can bridge the gap to taking on a full apprenticeship, such as traineeships, work placements and pre-apprenticeship programmes. We actively encourage industry to take advantage of DWP’s recently launched ‘Kickstarter’ scheme.