Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure that the apprenticeship levy is used to create apprenticeship opportunities for young people, rather than the upskilling of existing employees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has set out plans for a more flexible growth and skills levy. It will create opportunities for learners of all ages and give employers greater flexibility to address critical skill shortages in their workforces, whilst driving economic growth. 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. This will inspire more young people into the construction industry and give them the tools they need for a sustained and rewarding career. As part of this new offer, employers will be provided with £2,000 for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain in construction.
To support employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays £1,000 to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Non-levy paying employers can also benefit from the government paying the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. Additionally, employers are not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, £50,270 a year.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy for small businesses.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government is reforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers of all sizes to develop the skills they need to thrive.
As a first step, the department is introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months from August 2025, down from the current minimum of 12 months. This change means apprentices will be able to achieve occupational competence more quickly, where appropriate, such as, where apprentices have significant prior learning. Employers of all sizes will be able to benefit from these flexibilities.
Asked by: Amanda Martin (Labour - Portsmouth North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Skills England on the decision to exclude level 7 apprenticeships from the Apprenticeship Levy; and whether she is exploring alternative support for firms to provide these qualifications.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth supported by a strong skills system.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer.
The department has received a wide range of representations on level 7 apprenticeships which it is currently considering. These have been received directly and via Skills England, which has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on this matter and has shared its findings with the department.
The department recognises the importance of providing clarity as soon as possible on future funding for level 7 apprenticeships and will communicate next steps in due course.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether training in the workplace will be a condition of support under the growth and skills levy.
Answered by Janet Daby
This government’s first mission is to kickstart economic growth. We know that skills gaps are holding back business growth and that we need to support employers to invest in skills training. Our 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.
The new training offer will include shorter duration apprenticeships. From August 2025, subject to the legislative timetable, the minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months. This change means apprentices will be able to achieve occupational competence more quickly, where appropriate.
The department will also introduce foundation apprenticeships for young people, a work-based offer providing high-quality progression pathways into further work-based training and employment, including occupationally specific apprenticeships.
These are the first steps in expanding the apprenticeships offer into a wider levy-funded growth and skills offer that works better for employers, individuals and the wider economy. The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps across all sectors and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the growth and skills levy will be reserved for apprenticeship training.
Answered by Janet Daby
This government’s first mission is to kickstart economic growth. We know that skills gaps are holding back business growth and that we need to support employers to invest in skills training. Our 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.
The new training offer will include shorter duration apprenticeships. From August 2025, subject to the legislative timetable, the minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months. This change means apprentices will be able to achieve occupational competence more quickly, where appropriate.
The department will also introduce foundation apprenticeships for young people, a work-based offer providing high-quality progression pathways into further work-based training and employment, including occupationally specific apprenticeships.
These are the first steps in expanding the apprenticeships offer into a wider levy-funded growth and skills offer that works better for employers, individuals and the wider economy. The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps across all sectors and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria will be used to determine how the new growth and skills levy may be spent; and whether a criteria will be published.
Answered by Janet Daby
This government’s first mission is to kickstart economic growth. We know that skills gaps are holding back business growth and that we need to support employers to invest in skills training. Our 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.
The new training offer will include shorter duration apprenticeships. From August 2025, subject to the legislative timetable, the minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months. This change means apprentices will be able to achieve occupational competence more quickly, where appropriate.
The department will also introduce foundation apprenticeships for young people, a work-based offer providing high-quality progression pathways into further work-based training and employment, including occupationally specific apprenticeships.
In response to feedback from employers and learners, the department has already introduced flexibilities for employers to the English and mathematics requirements for adult apprentices.
These are the first steps in expanding the apprenticeships offer into a wider levy-funded growth and skills offer that works better for employers, individuals and the wider economy. The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps across all sectors and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing tax breaks to employers who train apprentices.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Employers of those under the age of 21 and apprentices under the age of 25 already receive 100% employer National Insurance relief on salaries up to £50,270.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage employers to take advantage of the apprenticeship levy to use these funds to develop skills in young people.
Answered by Janet Daby
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government is reforming the current levy-funded apprenticeships offer to deliver greater flexibility for employers. Apprenticeships will remain at the heart of the offer. To support more businesses to participate in apprenticeships, the department is introducing shorter duration apprenticeships and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors.
Foundation apprenticeships will be a new work-based training offer that give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives, whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth. The department is working closely with employers and providers to design foundation apprenticeships that offer young people a good route into good, skilled work and meet the needs of the industrial strategy.
To support smaller employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. This is in recognition of the additional support that younger apprentices may require when entering employment. Employers can choose how they spend these payments. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year).
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Northern Ireland on ensuring that businesses in Northern Ireland that pay into the Apprenticeship Levy receive direct funding from the levy.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
HMT ministers engage regularly with the Northern Ireland Finance Minister through the Finance Inter-Ministerial Committee.
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: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of apprenticeship levy funds were spent on Level 7 Appenticeships in each year since the creation of the levy.
Answered by Janet Daby
The apprenticeships budget in England is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in apprenticeship levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers.
The table below shows spend on Level 7 apprenticeships, by both levy-paying and non-levy paying employers in England, and total spend on the apprenticeship programme.
Financial Year | Overall spend on Level 7 apprenticeships (£ million) | Total spend (£ million) | Proportion of total spend (%) |
2017/18 | 12 | 1,586 | 1 |
2018/19 | 50 | 1,738 | 3 |
2019/20 | 103 | 1,919 | 5 |
2020/21 | 165 | 1,863 | 9 |
2021/22 | 236 | 2,455 | 10 |
2022/23 | 234 | 2,458 | 10 |
2023/24 | 238 | 2,509 | 9 |
Spend is rounded to the nearest million and proportions to the nearest whole number.