Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the sums to be accrued from the apprenticeship levy in each region of the UK in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. The expected yield for the apprenticeship levy is published in table C.5 (‘Current Receipts’) in the Autumn Statement 2016 document. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571559/autumn_statement_2016_web.pdf

It is not possible to produce a robust estimate of the amount of the levy which will be paid by employers in the devolved administrations or by region. This is because the PAYE system, through which employers will pay the levy, does not record the place of work of individuals and many large employers have employees working across the UK.

Skills policy is devolved and the UK government has agreed to provide the devolved administrations with a population share of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s apprenticeship levy forecast (published in March 2016). The funding agreement has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations.