Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policy on apprenticeships of the finding of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in its report, Engineered in Britain, published in December 2015, on the number of manufacturers who would be encouraged to take on more apprentices if the Government provided £3,000 to any person who completed their apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships are paid jobs. In October 2015 we increased the apprenticeship National Minimum Wage by over 20% to £3.30 per hour for apprentices aged under 19 and those aged 19 and over in the first year of their apprenticeship. Most employers pay more than this. The average gross hourly pay received by apprentices in England is £6.31 an hour for Level 2 and 3 apprentices and £9.69 for higher apprentices.

Apprenticeships have excellent wage returns for individuals over their working life. These add up to between £48,000 and £74,000 for level 2 apprenticeships and between £77,000 and £117,000 for level 3 apprentices. Those completing an apprenticeship at level 4 or above could earn £150,000 more on average over their lifetime.

These are the right long-term financial incentives for individuals to support the growth of apprenticeships towards 3 million new starts by 2020.