Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) local authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships on providing strategic oversight for local apprenticeships.

The department has made excellent progress on the national rollout of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), with employer representative bodies designated to lead the development of LSIPs in all 38 areas of England. The LSIPs will articulate agreed sets of priority actions that providers and stakeholders in a local area can get behind to drive change.

The department expects that by being employer-led and locally owned, LSIPs will help better align post-16 technical education and training, including provision of apprenticeships, to local employer and labour market needs. This will help to ensure businesses can access the skills they need to succeed and grow and that leaners can secure high quality jobs and increase their career prospects. The recently launched £165 million Local Skills Improvement Fund will enable further education providers to transition their provision so that it matches LSIP priorities.