Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing further support to fund apprenticeship placements in the arts and design sector.

We are committed to supporting employers of all sizes to offer apprenticeships, including in the arts and design sectors. In the 2021-22 financial year, we are making available £2.5 billion to support apprenticeships in all employers, irrespective of their size.

There are over 50, employer-designed, apprenticeship standards in the creative and design industry available for employers to use, ranging from a level 3 Costume Performance Technician, to level 4 Media Production co-ordinator and level 7 Storyboard Artists. To support employers in the arts and design and other sectors to offer new apprenticeships, we have increased the incentive payments for employers to £3,000 for each new apprentice they hire as a new employee between 1 April and 30 September 2021.

We are making it easier for employers to make full use of their levy funds. Levy-paying employers can transfer up to 25% of their annual funds to help support apprenticeship starts in their supply chain or to meet local skills needs. In August 2021 we are launching a new online service to match levy payers with small to medium-sized enterprises to simplify the process for employers who pay the levy to be able to pledge funds.

We are also working closely with the creative industries to make apprenticeships more flexible. In July we are launching a £7 million fund to support flexi-job apprenticeships schemes which will help sectors with flexible employment patterns and short-term roles, such as arts and design, to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships can offer its workforce.