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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16350, whether (a) professional and vocational training and (b) other alternative forms of digital skills development will be supported by the apprenticeship levy.

Employers will be free to spend their money on apprenticeship training which they judge best meets their needs. This could be on approved in-house apprenticeship training, or apprenticeship training offered by another registered provider of their choice.

We want to give employers in England flexibility on how they use levy funds without introducing additional and unintended complexity into the system.

Apprenticeships are available in a wide range of sectors and at all levels including degree level. There are new apprenticeship standards in digital industries occupations such as Network Engineer, Software Developer, and Digital & Technology Solutions Professional (degree apprenticeship).