Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 7 March (HL5760), how the increased funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024–25 financial year for supporting apprenticeships in arboriculture will be spent.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start a career in the arboriculture sector. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010, with 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget spent to support employers of all sizes to deliver high-quality apprenticeships in the 2021/22 financial year.

To support more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This funding will not only help employers to create new apprenticeships across various sectors, including in arboriculture, but it will also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already undergoing training, the cost of end-point assessments and any additional payments made to employers and training providers.

The below table shows apprenticeship starts and achievements for the level 2 Arborist apprenticeship standard, with a typical duration of 24 months. There have been no starts on the level 4 Arboriculturist or level 6 Professional Arboriculturist apprenticeship standards, as they are currently awaiting an appropriate end-point assessment organisation to be appointed.

Note: Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Annual starts and achievements measures should not be directly compared, as apprentices will not achieve in the same year in which they started. The apprenticeship typically takes around two years to complete, and learners may take a break in learning during their apprenticeship.

The level 2 Arborist standard is presently undergoing a comprehensive review led by the trailblazer group, in collaboration with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Their collective efforts aim to improve the end-point assessment process, thereby increasing the number of apprentices who successfully attain the qualification. The revised standard is scheduled to be introduced by autumn 2023.

To encourage more starts, the department is making apprenticeships more flexible for employers in all sectors, supporting them to build a skilled workforce and develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the future. Furthermore, we have removed the limit to the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. The department also provides £1,000 to employers and training providers when they take on certain younger apprentices.

The department continues to actively promote apprenticeships in schools and colleges through our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme. This free service provides resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships by giving them up-to-date information on the options available, including apprenticeships in arboriculture sector.

We do not hold information on the number of employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector that are signed up to Inspiring the Future, because the programme is not government funded. To obtain comprehensive and accurate information, we recommend contacting Inspiring the Future directly via their website, which can be accessed at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org/about/contact-us/.