Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff employed by his Department are apprentices.

As of 31 March 2020, the Civil Service has achieved a total of 2.1% of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3% by March 2021. The Ministry of Justice has achieved 1.68% of the total staff employed within the department.

The Ministry of Justice’s Apprenticeship Strategy, designed to meet the allocated targets, consists of three strands:

• Promoting the use of Cabinet Office-approved apprenticeships programmes to develop professional skills;
• Designing and delivering operational apprenticeship standards for specific operational roles; and
• Promoting the use of apprenticeships as an entry route/development of career pathways for staff at all levels of the organisation.

This target is a percentage of the total workforce so the percentage attained will change in line with workforce fluctuations over time, making it challenging to predict when a department will meet it. The data for 2018/19 can be found here. The data for 2019/20 can be found here.

Departments are committed to increasing the number of apprentices across the Civil Service and continue to work towards the 2.3% target.