Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 25 July (HL9666), what mechanisms they use or intend to use to ensure that subcontractors to awardees of Education and Skills Funding Agency contracts for the training of apprentices are capable of delivering training of the appropriate quality and do deliver such training.

We understand this question to refer to non-levy apprenticeship procured contracts. Under these contracts delivery started from 1 January 2018.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) requires all providers that subcontract to comply with its apprenticeship funding rules (attached). These rules include that providers must carry out due diligence checks on potential subcontractors. In addition, they must not use the delivery subcontractor that they assess is unsuitable, or whose quality of delivery is demonstrably inadequate.

Providers must manage and monitor all of their subcontractors to make sure that high quality delivery is taking place which meets the funding rules. This includes carrying out a regular and substantial programme of quality-assurance checks on the apprenticeship training and on-programme assessment provided by subcontractors.

The ESFA also requires all subcontractors with aggregate apprenticeship delivery of over £100,000 per year to successfully apply to its register of apprenticeship training providers.