Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much apprenticeship levy did educational providers (a) spend, and (b) return to treasury in each financial year since 2017/18.

The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the department’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.

As employers, education providers with a pay bill of £3 million or more will pay the apprenticeship levy. The department does not collect data on the nature or sector in which employers operate, and so it does not hold the data requested.

The funds in levy-paying employers’ apprenticeship service accounts are available for them to use for apprenticeship training and assessment for 24 months, at which point unused funds begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis.

Separately, the department is set an annual apprenticeships budget by His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). The value of this annual budget is not the same as the funds which are available in levy-paying employers’ accounts for 24 months. The annual apprenticeships budget funds apprenticeships for all employers, including those who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, and is also used to cover the cost of end-point assessment, English and maths tuition, and additional payments made to employers, providers, and apprentices.

As is usual practice, any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are first returned to HMT as per the consolidated budgeting guidance. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-budgeting-guidance-2021-to-2022.