Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reverse the decline in new apprenticeships for the construction industry, in particular in small and medium-sized firms; and what steps they are taking to ensure that the Building Crafts College and other smaller providers of training are able to contribute as fully as possible in the training of apprenticeships.

The Institute for Apprenticeships is working with a range of sectors, including construction, to design and deliver new high quality apprenticeship standards that will meet the skills needs of industry. There are currently 52 construction standards approved for delivery, with 43 further standards in development. We have seen a 338% growth in apprenticeship starts at higher levels (Level 4 and above) in construction and planning this year, compared to the same period last year. To support smaller employers who do not pay the levy take on apprentices, the government provides at least 90% of training and assessment costs.

We recently released additional funds for providers who were successful in our procurement drive to fund apprenticeships amongst smaller employers, taking the total amount of investment to nearly £560 million. We recognise, however, that a number of smaller, niche providers were unsuccessful in the procurement. We have recently introduced the ability for levy paying employers to transfer up to 10% of their levy funds to other employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises in their supply chains, and we continue to make subcontracting an option; such initiatives have helped providers who were unable to continue in delivering high quality apprenticeship training.

We are encouraging employers to take advantage of these changes to enable them to grow their apprenticeship programmes and invest in the long-term skills required of their business. We meet regularly with business groups and individual employers to understand the impact of the reforms and use their feedback to inform any further changes.