Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the apprenticeship levy has been allocated to placements in Birkenhead constituency; how many of those placements in have been funded in Birkenhead constituency; and how many businesses in have received funding from the apprenticeship levy to provide placements in Birkenhead constituency.

Employers in England who pay the levy can access funds for apprenticeship training via registering for an apprenticeship service account. Many levy-paying employers operate in more than one location, and they are free to spend the funds in their accounts on apprenticeship training across England. The Education and Skills Funding Agency cannot therefore disaggregate levy drawdown to individual regions or locations.

In 2019-20 funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England will be over £2.5 billion, double what was spent in 2010-11.

There were 850 apprenticeship starts in Birkenhead in 2017/18, and there have been 10,980 starts in the constituency since 2010.