Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help apprenticeship levy-paying employers to use more of the levy funding available to them than the 15 per cent that they used between 2017 and 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Spending on apprenticeships is demand-led. Employers can choose the type, level and quantity of apprenticeships that they offer, as well as when they offer the apprenticeships, to meet their current and future skills needs.

Between May 2017 and April 2019, levy-paying employers spent 18% of the funds available to them on the training and assessment of new apprentices. In addition, levy-paying employers will also have benefitted from ongoing funding for apprenticeships for their employees which started prior to the introduction of the levy. They will also benefit from additional payments to support apprentices employed with levy-payers (such as English and Maths teaching and payments to support disadvantaged learners), and 95% of the funding for training for any apprenticeships started once their levy funds have been exhausted.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency works closely with employers, for example through webinars and employer roadshows, to encourage them to increase the number of apprenticeships that they offer and make the most of the long-term benefits that apprenticeships can bring to their organisations. We have ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,000 of the largest levy-paying employers through our national account managers, and ongoing support via telephone for small and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to invest their levy funds.

To further support all employers to make the long-term, sustainable investment in training, we have increased the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers from 10% to 25%.

We do not anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts. Income from the levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers.