Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the potential merits of creating a levy or tax-free training scheme for general aviation on the condition that pilots qualifying through such a scheme must volunteer for charitable purposes such as air ambulances and civil air patrols.

If an employer provides work-related training to an employee it is tax and National Insurance contributions free.

The apprenticeship levy was launched on 6 April 2017. It will help to reverse the trend of employers’ underinvesting in training and put control of funding for apprenticeships in employers’ hands. Employers have already developed new apprenticeships standards in aviation which include Airside Ground Specialist and Aviation Operations Manager, with the Commercial Airline Pilot standard currently in development.