Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many apprenticeship levy-paying employers have an annual pay bill of between £3 million and £3.25 million; whether they assessed the impact of the increase in the employer co-investment rate for starters from 1 August 2026 on recruitment of apprentices by such employers; and if so, what plans they have to publish that assessment.

All UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the levy. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for collecting the levy on behalf of the government. HMRC publishes data on UK apprenticeship levy receipts at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk. In England, levy paying employers access Government funding for apprenticeships through their employer accounts, which they must set up.

Currently, employers who exhaust the funding in their levy accounts, which includes a 10% Government top-up, can continue to enrol apprentices, with government funding 95% of their training costs for a small contribution of 5%. From August 2026, government will fund 75% of the training and assessment costs once funds are exhausted.

We understand, from our engagement with employers and other stakeholders, that employers with smaller levy balances may be more affected by this change and we will carefully monitor the impact of this change as we implement it.

The department does not publish apprenticeship starts by size of employer pay bill, including starts by size of employer pay bill broken down by age.