Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.

We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.

Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.

In addition, in the Home Department we have recently launched a new Apprenticeship Strategy designed to accelerate progress in embedding apprenticeships across the department. This strategy is aimed at significantly expanding access to high-quality apprenticeship opportunities across all areas of our workforce, with a ‘think apprenticeship first’ approach.

As part of this strategy, we have set an ambitious target: at least 5% of our staff will be undertaking an apprenticeship at any given time. This target reflects our strong commitment to developing talent, supporting career progression, and addressing skills gaps within the Department.