Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the total receipts from the Apprenticeship Levy were, what was the total expenditure on apprenticeship training, in each of the last five financial years; and what plans they have to increase the proportion of Apprenticeship Levy receipts allocated to apprenticeship training.

The UK wide Apprenticeship Levy, which is paid at a rate of 0.5% by employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million, is not legally hypothecated and, as such, revenues from the levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund and not directly allocated to apprenticeships.

HM Treasury separately sets the apprenticeship budget at each Spending Review. When setting the budget, the Government considers its wider investment in skills, ensuring businesses can benefit from a highly skilled workforce. We are investing over £18 billion a year in skills and post-16 education, including record investment in apprenticeships.

While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. This means that the devolved governments receive funding through the Barnett formula in relation to English apprenticeship spending as part of their block grant. It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.

The Government is transforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy, investing a further £1 billion across the Spending Review period to support more apprenticeships for young people and greater flexibility for employers. On 28 September, the Chancellor announced £100m of investment over two years to expand local apprenticeship services, so that all current mayors are able to deliver tailored local support that helps young people access apprenticeships and supports employers to create apprenticeship opportunities.

Monthly and Annual receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy in the United Kingdom are published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax Receipts and National Insurance Contribution publication.^[1] The total receipts from the Apprenticeship Levy over the last 5 years are as follows:

The final budget position of the Growth and Skills Levy budget for the last 5 financial years in England is:

^[1] HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)