Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprenticeship levy funds were spent by non-levy payers in 2017-18.

Since May 2018, levy-paying employers have been able to transfer up to 10% of their unused apprenticeship service funds to non-levy paying employer(s) to pay for the training and assessment cost of the apprenticeships agreed with the receiving employer. From May 2018, when the employers became able to make levy transfers, to July 2018 [2017-18 Academic Year] less than 1% of levy funds in employer apprenticeship service accounts were used to fund apprenticeships in this way for non-levy paying employers.

Other than through a levy transfer from a levy paying employer, apprenticeship levy funds cannot be accessed by non-levy paying employers. More information on how transfers work can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transferring-apprenticeship-service-funds.