Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to run a budget (a) surplus or (b) deficit for the apprenticeship levy in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021 and (iv) 2022; and if he will make a statement.

The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced on a UK wide basis from 6 April 2017. Employers are charged at 0.5% of their pay bill over £3 million. In 2018-19, £2.7 billion was raised from the levy.

Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the Department for Education’s ring-fenced apprenticeship budget, which is set to fund apprenticeships in England only. The budget has been set in advance for the current spending review period (to 2019-20). The budget was £2.2 billion for the 2018-19 financial year and it will rise to over £2.5 billion in 2019-20 – double what was spent on apprenticeships in 2010. Currently, we expect to remain within budget in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years. The programme budgets for 2020/21 and beyond will be determined by the forthcoming Spending Review.

The apprenticeship budget is used to fund new apprenticeship starts in levy and non-levy paying employers and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices that are already in training. A detailed breakdown of spending for 2018-19 will be published in the Education and Skills Funding Agency Annual Report and Accounts.