Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Growth and Skills Levy effectively reduces skills gaps identified by Skills England.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 39389.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of funding through the growth and skills levy will employers be able to spend on non-apprenticeship training.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish guidance on funding rules and criteria for the Growth and Skills Levy on the number of apprenticeship starts in the 2025-26 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby
The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2025/2026 academic year were published on 15 May 2025 on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-funding-rules-2025-to-2026.
These include guidance for employers and providers on the growth and skills offer, including on foundation and shorter duration apprenticeships. All apprenticeships starting on or after 1 August 2025 will be subject to these rules unless otherwise specified.
Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to provide guidance to (a) providers and (b) employers on the growth and skills levy.
Answered by Janet Daby
The apprenticeship funding rules for the 2025/2026 academic year were published on 15 May 2025 on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-funding-rules-2025-to-2026.
These include guidance for employers and providers on the growth and skills offer, including on foundation and shorter duration apprenticeships. All apprenticeships starting on or after 1 August 2025 will be subject to these rules unless otherwise specified.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ringfencing the skills levy for funding apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of removing Apprenticeship Levy funding for Level 7 apprenticeships on the number of people using the apprenticeship route to obtain higher-level qualifications; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this change on young people.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43275.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Apprenticeship Levy has been (a) collected from and (b) provided to Northern Ireland employers in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Reliable estimates of the revenue raised from businesses in Northern Ireland from the Apprenticeship Levy are not available as any estimate would need to be based on where employers are registered, and therefore would not necessarily reflect where the liabilities are accrued or where employees are based. Any estimate would not include businesses registered in Wales, Scotland, or England, who have a presence and pay employees in Northern Ireland.
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. The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the eligibility of the Apprenticeship Levy to include (a) pre-employment and (b) employability schemes.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government’s new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, aligned with the government’s industrial strategy. This will include introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter-duration apprenticeships.
Foundation apprenticeships will be a work-based training offer that will provide young people with clear progression pathways into further work-based training and employment. Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from new foundation apprenticeships, which will be launching in August 2025.
Further development of the growth and skills offer will be informed by the work of Skills England who will work closely with employers and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps. This will help to ensure that the levy-funded growth and skills offer delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick-start economic growth.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether OFWAT has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Civil Service is committed to using apprenticeships to break down barriers to opportunity, support skills development and deliver more effective public services.
OFWAT has made use of apprentices in its workforce since 2014 and recruitment data, where available, has been provided below:
Employed as Degree Apprentices: | ||||
Quantity | Apprenticeship | Start date | End Date | Training provider |
2 | Operations (Technology & Infrastructure) | Dec 2014 | Dec 2015 | South and City College |
1 | Professional economist (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2028 | The University of Kent |
2 | Project manager (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Oct 2024 | Sep 2027 | University of Exeter |
2 | Solicitor, Level: 7 | Mar 2025 | Feb 2027 | DAMAR Ltd |
1 | Professional economist (integrated degree), Level: 6 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2028 | The University of Kent |
Ofwat Employees who joined Apprenticeship Programmes: | ||||
1 | Solicitor, Level: 7 | Sep 2024 | Aug 2027 | DAMAR Ltd |
1 | Assistant accountant, Level: 3 (Standard) | Sep 2019 | Sep 2020 | Solihull College and University Centre |
1 | Professional accounting or taxation technician, Level: 4 (Standard) | Dec 2020 | Mar 2022 | Solihull College and University Centre |
1 | Business Administrator, Level: 3 (Standard) | Jun 2019 | Sep 2020 | QA Ltd |
1 | Coaching professional, Level: 5 | Feb 2022 | Aug 2022 | HTP Apprenticeship College Ltd |
In addition, OFWAT is recruiting for a September 2025 Degree Apprenticeship intake: 2 x Economist, 1 x Chartered Manager, 2 x L7 Solicitor Apprentices
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the total (a) apprenticeship levy revenue received from eligible employers, (b) sum and proportion of levy revenue spent on Level 4, 5, 6 and 7 apprenticeship qualifications and (c) the sum and proportion of unspent levy revenue returned to HM Treasury in each of the last five years.
Answered by Janet Daby
All UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay 0.5 per cent of their pay bill to invest in apprenticeship training. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is responsible for collecting the levy on behalf of the government. Annual apprenticeship levy receipts are published at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67b5fd2c9ae06ef4a71cf2e0/NS_Table_final.ods.
The department is responsible for apprenticeships in England only and receives an annual protected apprenticeships budget, which is agreed at spending reviews. Although closely linked, this is distinct from the total levy income collected and the funds in employer accounts.
In total, this apprenticeship budget covers the spend drawn down by all levy-paying employers, as well as apprenticeships for those who do not pay the levy, the costs of English and mathematics tuition for apprentices, and additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. It also covers the administrative costs of running the apprenticeships programme.
The table below provides details of the ring-fenced apprenticeships budget, and the total and proportion of the budget that was unspent in each of the last five years.
| £ (million) |
|
|
|
|
Financial year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Department ring-fenced apprenticeships budget | 2,469 | 2,467 | 2,466 | 2,554 | 2,525* |
Underspend against Department ring-fenced apprenticeships budget | 550 | 604 | 11 | 96 | 16* |
Proportion of underspend against the apprenticeship budget | 22% | 24% | 1% | 4% | 1%* |
*The 2023/24 annual apprenticeship budget was revised in-year from £2,585 million to £2,525 million, as £60 million was surrendered in-year.
Where the department’s apprenticeships budget is underspent by the end of the financial year, funds are returned to HM Treasury in line with standard practice set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, a copy of which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-budgeting-guidance-2024-to-2025.
The table below provides a breakdown of spend against the apprenticeship budget by apprenticeship level 4 to level 7, and the proportion of the budget spent at level 4 to level 7 for each of the five past years.
| Budget spend by apprenticeships level (£ million & %) |
|
|
|
Financial year | Level 4 | Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 |
2019/20 | 156 (8%) | 128 (7%) | 114 (6%) | 103 (5%) |
2020/21 | 181 (10%) | 146 (8%) | 172 (9%) | 165 (9%) |
2021/22 | 241 (10%) | 181 (7%) | 296 (12%) | 236 (10%) |
2022/23 | 249 (10%) | 166 (7%) | 349 (14%) | 234 (10%) |
2023/24 | 268 (11%) | 171 (7%) | 387 (15%) | 238 (9%) |