Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that apprenticeship and skills funding provides employers with adequate flexibility to fund training to address sector-specific skills shortages.

This government is transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, giving employers greater flexibility, creating more opportunities for young people, and directly supporting the Industrial Strategy.

To give businesses greater flexibility and help them quickly respond to emerging skills gaps, we have launched new apprenticeship units in priority sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital, and engineering. We have also reduced the apprenticeship minimum duration to 8 months and made the English and maths requirements more flexible for adult apprentices.

We are giving businesses the stability they need to invest and create high-quality jobs across the UK through our Industrial Strategy, including investing over £1 billion for tailored sector skills packages.