Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much funding from the apprenticeship levy the House of Commons has spent on training apprentices in the 2018-19 financial year.

The expansion of the programme began in late 2018 due to procuring new training providers to fully meet the requirements of the House and, following their appointment, the programme has expanded quickly and will continue to do so. As a result for the financial year 2018–2019 the House has spent just £38,452 (9%) of its Levy, all of it on training apprentices.

The House has approximately £383,500 of the Levy remaining to the end of the 2018–19 financial year. The House is already using this amount for the full expansion of its apprenticeship programme and the ongoing enrolment of apprentices onto training. This includes the portion of the Levy funds allocated to be spent by Parliamentary Digital Services, who are planning their apprenticeships for 2019.

Of the 2018/2019 funds remaining the House will continue to spend these on apprenticeships for the coming year. These funds are not constrained by the financial years and are available on a rolling basis.