Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of apprenticeship levy money that was (1) paid, and (2) spent, by creative industry companies in the 2018–19 financial year.

The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million per year. HMRC does not publish data on levy receipts broken down by sector.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to register a sector when they set up an online apprenticeship service account to manage their funds. It is therefore unable to supply information on the sectoral distribution of spending on apprenticeships in the format requested. From discussions with the sector, we recognise that there are some challenges faced by the sector in spending available funds due to the nature of the creative industries’ labour market. We are working closely with them so that they can benefit from apprenticeships.

We are also working with the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport on an innovative Film and TV Apprenticeships pilot which will enable around 25 apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and TV shows.

Launching later this year, it will explore a new model for how high-quality apprenticeships can be used to deliver multiple placements on film and TV productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.