Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), currently has six apprentices and this equates to 0.7% of employees. The department is reviewing its apprenticeship strategy in line with Civil Service ambition of 2.3% apprenticeship starts and aims to meet this commitment by the 2018/19 financial year. Apprenticeships represent an opportunity for DCMS to increase to social mobility, diversity and strengthen our skills base. We aim to do this by taking on Fast Track apprentices, filling appropriate vacancies with apprentices and supporting existing staff to take up apprenticeships to further their own development. We believe the department is making progress and will continue working to increase the number of apprentices.