Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on the 10 percent top-up of apprenticeship levy funds in employer accounts in each of the last five years.

The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it has supported us to grow the apprenticeship budget to £2.7 billion in 2024/25, for employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010.

The apprenticeship levy is paid by UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million, and is collected by HM Revenue and Customs. Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training through an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.

The total of apprenticeship levy funds and the 10% top up form the overall amount available for levy-paying employers to use for training their employees. As such, it is not possible to distinguish what proportion of spend relates to the 10% top up.