Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to incentivise employer investment in workforce training and upskilling as part of the Invest 2035 strategy.

The Industrial Strategy Green Paper is clear that the people that create and work in businesses will be central to the success of the growth-driving sectors and clusters. The government is developing proposals to ensure that the current and future skills system supports employers to invest in and develop a skilled workforce, and has already taken steps to support this, including establishing Skills England and reforming the existing apprenticeship offer into a Growth and Skills levy-funded offer which will provide greater flexibility for both employers and learners. We will set out further detail in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.