Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Skills England will take to encourage (a) SMEs and (b) other employers to offer more apprenticeships for people under 25.

Skills England will support young people to develop the skills they need.

The rate of young people’s apprenticeship starts has fallen by almost 40% since 2015/16. We want to rebalance the programme back towards young people.

This government, supported by Skills England, is focused on establishing a coherent skills system with more flexible training options that support employers to fill skills gaps whilst driving growth and spreading opportunity.

Supported by Skills England, we are introducing foundation apprenticeships to get young people into work-based training and employment, as well as delivering shorter duration apprenticeships to provide flexibility for employers and learners.

Employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year.

We recognise the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with National Insurance contributions liabilities either gain or see no change next year.

We also provide £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19.