Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what assessment he has made of the impact of increased employment costs on the ability of small and medium-sized businesses to offer apprenticeships (b) whether his Department plans to provide additional financial support to employers to sustain apprenticeship opportunities for young people.

The government provides significant financial support to help employers to take on apprentices. This is part of our record-breaking investment of £3.3 billion in the Growth and Skills Levy this year and £1bn of additional investment across the Spending Review period.

We are introducing a new employer hiring payment of £2,000 for non-levy paying employers, typically SMEs, that take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees. It will apply to apprenticeship starts from October, as long as they have joined their employer within the past 3 months. Employers hiring apprentices aged 18-24 who have been on Universal Credit for over six months will also be eligible for the new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant from June 2026.

Additionally, from August 2026, we will fully fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers for eligible people aged 16-24. At the moment, this only happens for apprentices aged 16-21 and apprentices aged 22-24 who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or have been, or are, in local authority care.

The government also pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHCP or have been, or are, in local authority care. On top of this, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year).