Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department is making on meeting the 2.3 per cent public sector apprenticeship target; and when his Department will meet that target.

As of 31 March 2020, the Civil Service has achieved a total of 2.1 per cent of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3 per cent by March 2021. On 21 September 2020, the equivalent figure for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was 1.7 per cent. Given this target is a percentage of the total workforce the percentage changes in line with workforce fluctuations over time therefore making it challenging to predict when a Department will meet it. Data for 2018/19 can be found here. The data for 2019/20 will be released on gov.uk by the end of September 2020.

Departments are committed to increasing the number of apprentices across the Civil Service and continue to work towards the 2.3 per cent target. The impact of the current pandemic has slowed recruitment due to priority work and logistics. With the current strategy and targets coming to an end in April 2021, the Civil Service is already focusing on how to continue to support the apprenticeship agenda and drive forward apprenticeship recruitment, pulling on the Plan for Jobs initiative and considering the current economic situation.

A multi-year approach on apprenticeships from FY 2021/22 will be developed by MHCLG’s Early Talent Team in the coming months, which will be aligned to the new apprenticeship strategy and any new targets included within.