Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support training and skills pathways for British manufacturing industries.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP works closely with industry bodies such as Make UK, the Manufacturing Technologies Association and the Institute for Grocery Distributors to support jobseekers to better understand the many career opportunities available in manufacturing.
DWP also promotes pathways into manufacturing to jobseekers, including skills interventions such as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) and Skills Bootcamps, alongside paid employment routes such as Apprenticeships. Between April 2021 and December 2025, DWP delivered 16,080 SWAP starts in the manufacturing sector.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the decision to restrict Level 7 apprenticeship funding for apprentices aged over 21 does not financially disadvantage learners who have completed a Level 6 architectural assistant apprenticeship and wish to progress to a full professional qualification at Level 7.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Since January 2026, the government no longer funds level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers.
The government is encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff aged over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. The department has published guidance on privately funded apprenticeships, which will enable employers to privately fund level 7 apprenticeships for staff aged over 22: Privately funded apprenticeships: rules and guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the impact of reducing government co-investment in apprenticeships once levy-paying employers have exhausted their levy funds, and (b) the impact of removing the uplift to levy accounts.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency, and making it more efficient.
From August 2026, we are removing the 10% top-up for levy-paying employers, changing expiry of levy funds to 12 months, and changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds.
Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment.
These changes will ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We continue to support SMEs to take on apprentices and for the first time we will be fully funding the cost of training eligible apprentices aged 16-24 at non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs). From August 2026, training and assessment will be completely free for SMEs who hire young people, boosting starts and reducing bureaucracy for both SMEs and training providers.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of recent changes to (a) co-investment in apprenticeships and (b) levy accounts on apprenticeship starts.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency, and making it more efficient.
From August 2026, we are removing the 10% top-up for levy-paying employers, changing expiry of levy funds to 12 months, and changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds.
Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment.
These changes will ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We continue to support SMEs to take on apprentices and for the first time we will be fully funding the cost of training eligible apprentices aged 16-24 at non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs). From August 2026, training and assessment will be completely free for SMEs who hire young people, boosting starts and reducing bureaucracy for both SMEs and training providers.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what distributional analysis his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) reducing government co-investment once levy-paying employers have exhausted their levy funds, and (b) removing the uplift to levy accounts on businesses.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency, and making it more efficient.
From August 2026, we are removing the 10% top-up for levy-paying employers, changing expiry of levy funds to 12 months, and changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds.
Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment.
These changes will ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We continue to support SMEs to take on apprentices and for the first time we will be fully funding the cost of training eligible apprentices aged 16-24 at non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs). From August 2026, training and assessment will be completely free for SMEs who hire young people, boosting starts and reducing bureaucracy for both SMEs and training providers.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much additional funding an SME is expected to contribute per apprentice following the reduction in government co-investment once levy-paying employers have exhausted their levy funds.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency, and making it more efficient.
From August 2026, we are removing the 10% top-up for levy-paying employers, changing expiry of levy funds to 12 months, and changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds.
Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment.
These changes will ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We continue to support SMEs to take on apprentices and for the first time we will be fully funding the cost of training eligible apprentices aged 16-24 at non-levy paying employers (essentially SMEs). From August 2026, training and assessment will be completely free for SMEs who hire young people, boosting starts and reducing bureaucracy for both SMEs and training providers.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help increase uptake of apprenticeships among young people in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy that will give greater flexibility to employers and support young people, including those in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, at the beginning of their careers.
In August 2025, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.
We are investing an additional £725 million to deliver the next phase of the growth and skills levy and meet our ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships. We will expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people, launch a pilot with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year.
The government also facilitates the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), comprising around 2,500 employer and apprentice volunteers who go into schools and colleges to share their compelling stories and experiences of what apprenticeships can do for young people.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with small businesses on the apprenticeship system.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and learners in England and support the industrial strategy. We recognise the importance of ensuring that small and medium sized (SME) employers can benefit from these reforms and continue to access apprenticeships.
The department engages regularly with employers and their representative organisations, including small businesses, to inform the ongoing development of the growth and skills levy. This includes regular sessions to explore how to simplify systems and processes as well as engagement with employers following the Budget on delivery of the next phase of the growth and skills levy.
Skills England also works closely with employers, training providers, unions and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps, helping ensure that the growth and skills levy delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick-start economic growth.
To ensure its work is shaped by real business experience, Skills England maintains regular dialogue with the B5 group of major employer organisations, including the Federation of Small Businesses. It also has a dedicated SME sponsor on its board and an executive team actively engaging SMEs across the country, ensuring smaller firms have a strong voice in shaping the skills system.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the additional per-apprentice cost to employers delivering (a) apprenticeship in engineering and (b) other high-cost apprenticeships following the changes to apprenticeship funding in August 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency and making it more efficient.
Currently, levy-paying employer accounts can show large unspent balances (currently totalling around £6.5 billion) which far exceed our annual apprenticeship budget. This has led to an incorrect understanding that there are significant unspent funds available to spend. However, over the last four years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent.
The 10% government top-up is one cause of this problem and removing it, alongside reducing the expiry period to 12 months, means we can simplify the system and ensure levy balances are more closely aligned to the annual levy paid by employers. Existing funding will remain within accounts, with the changes applying only to new funds entering accounts.
We are also changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds. Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment. This will support greater employer investment in skills overall and ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment on the potential impact of increasing employer co-investment to 25 per cent on the number of apprentices taken on by levy-paying employers.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we introduce new products, such as apprenticeship units and foundation apprenticeships, we are also simplifying the Growth and Skills Levy, improving its transparency and making it more efficient.
Currently, levy-paying employer accounts can show large unspent balances (currently totalling around £6.5 billion) which far exceed our annual apprenticeship budget. This has led to an incorrect understanding that there are significant unspent funds available to spend. However, over the last four years, on average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent.
The 10% government top-up is one cause of this problem and removing it, alongside reducing the expiry period to 12 months, means we can simplify the system and ensure levy balances are more closely aligned to the annual levy paid by employers. Existing funding will remain within accounts, with the changes applying only to new funds entering accounts.
We are also changing the government’s co-investment rate from 95% to 75% for levy-paying employers once they have exhausted all their funds. Levy-paying employers will still be able to benefit from a very generous government contribution once their funds are exhausted, but it is right that employers who utilise all their levy funds contribute more to apprenticeship training and assessment. This will support greater employer investment in skills overall and ensure funding is available to roll out further flexibility for business and increase opportunities for young people.
We will carefully monitor the impact of these changes once they take effect.