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1676492

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy-paying employers have transferred the maximum 25 per cent of apprenticeship levy funds to other businesses, for each of the past five financial years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Blower
	uin	HL975
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2023 answer text <p>UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the apprenticeship levy, which is collected by HM Revenue &amp; Customs. The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes build their workforces. As the apprenticeships levy is UK wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.</p><p>In England, employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on is used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.</p><p>Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.</p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts does not represent the total spend on apprenticeships for levy-paying empoyers and is not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships for employers of all sizes. On average, 98% of the apprenticeships budget has been spent in the last two financial years.</p><p>The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers that have spent more than 50% of the funds declared in their apprenticeship service accounts, including the 10% top-up from the government, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Number of employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>4,210</p></td><td><p>27%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>6,000</p></td><td><p>36%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>6,080</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>6,580</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>6,970</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The department is supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and have improved the transfer system to make it easier to find other employers who wish to take on apprentices with transferred funds. In April 2019, the department increased the transfer allowance from 10% to 25%, so levy-paying employers could transfer more of their annual funds to support any employer. Since September 2021, over 500 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £33 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers who spent all of their transfer allowance in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY (of allowance calculation)</p></td><td><p>Employers who used all their transfer allowance</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total employers who used all their transfer allowance</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>1.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>280</p></td><td><p>1.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>370</p></td><td><p>2.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>270</p></td><td><p>1.4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to use their funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer the noble lady to the answer of 10 November 2023 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-11-07/614" target="_blank">614</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL974 question first answered 21/12/2023 16:25:43 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4724 label Biography information for Baroness Blower

1676491

	registered interest
	date	07/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy-paying employers have spent more than half the funds in their apprenticeship levy account, for each of the past five financial years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Blower
	uin	HL974
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2023 answer text <p>UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the apprenticeship levy, which is collected by HM Revenue &amp; Customs. The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes build their workforces. As the apprenticeships levy is UK wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.</p><p>In England, employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on is used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.</p><p>Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.</p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts does not represent the total spend on apprenticeships for levy-paying empoyers and is not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships for employers of all sizes. On average, 98% of the apprenticeships budget has been spent in the last two financial years.</p><p>The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers that have spent more than 50% of the funds declared in their apprenticeship service accounts, including the 10% top-up from the government, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Number of employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>4,210</p></td><td><p>27%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>6,000</p></td><td><p>36%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>6,080</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>6,580</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>6,970</p></td><td><p>35%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The department is supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and have improved the transfer system to make it easier to find other employers who wish to take on apprentices with transferred funds. In April 2019, the department increased the transfer allowance from 10% to 25%, so levy-paying employers could transfer more of their annual funds to support any employer. Since September 2021, over 500 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £33 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers who spent all of their transfer allowance in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY (of allowance calculation)</p></td><td><p>Employers who used all their transfer allowance</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total employers who used all their transfer allowance</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>70</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>170</p></td><td><p>1.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>280</p></td><td><p>1.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>370</p></td><td><p>2.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>270</p></td><td><p>1.4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to use their funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer the noble lady to the answer of 10 November 2023 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-11-07/614" target="_blank">614</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL975 question first answered 21/12/2023 16:25:43 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4724 label Biography information for Baroness Blower

943358

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to use the apprenticeship levy funds made available by the fall in apprenticeship starts to reinstate the contracts which were removed from experienced small training providers.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice
	uin	HL9577
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2018 answer text <p>Any unspent apprenticeship funds in levy payer accounts are used to support levy-paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy payers.</p><p>The procurement for apprenticeship training for non-levy payers was managed in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. We did not remove contracts from training providers, but as with any procurement, some bidders were not successful. We are not able to revisit the decisions made at that time, nor are we able to award funding to bidders that were not successful, as the procurement is now closed.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 25/07/2018 15:41:00 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	4578 label Biography information for Baroness Cavendish of Little Venice

1676148

	registered interest
	date	06/12/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy paying employers have spent all funds in their apprenticeship levy account, for each of the past five financial years.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Blower
	uin	HL911
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2023 answer text <p>UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the apprenticeship levy, which is collected by HM Revenue &amp; Customs. Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.</p><p>While levy-paying employers in England can use all their levy funds the majority do not, which allows these funds from the apprenticeship budget to fund apprenticeship training for small and medium sized businesses, so all companies can benefit from training apprentices.</p><p>The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers that have spent all the funds declared in their apprenticeship service accounts, including the 10% top-up from the government, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Number of employers who spent all levy funds</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total employers who spent all levy funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>1,620</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>2,530</p></td><td><p>15%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>2,520</p></td><td><p>15%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>2,620</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>2,540</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The funds in levy-paying employers’ apprenticeship service accounts do not represent the total spend on apprenticeships for levy paying employers and are not the same as the total annual apprenticeships budget. The ring-fenced apprenticeships budget for England is set by HM Treasury and, although closely linked, is distinct from the total levy income collected. In the last two financial years, on average 98% of the English apprenticeships budget was spent.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 20/12/2023 13:03:10 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4724 label Biography information for Baroness Blower

932347

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the lifting of restrictions on the transfer of apprenticeship levy funds between employers means that an employer can transfer 10 per cent of their total levy funds to each employer in receipt.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
	uin	HL9059
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2018 answer text <p>Levy payers will now be able to transfer funds to any number of other employers, within their maximum 10% transferable allowance. This change does not mean that an employer can transfer 10% of their total levy funds to each employer in receipt. The 10% annual transfer allowance represents the maximum total value of funds an employer is able to transfer within a year.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 12/07/2018 13:44:03 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

924188

	registered interest
	date	14/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to carry out a review of the Apprenticeship Levy.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL8667
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2018 answer text <p>We continually monitor performance and keep apprenticeships policy under review, making changes and improvements in consultation with employers and training providers. For example, we recently introduced the ability for levy paying employers to transfer up to 10% of their apprenticeship funds to other employers. The Institute for Apprenticeships has introduced a new ‘Faster and Better’ initiative to speed up the approval of new apprenticeship standards. We have also introduced a new £1000 bursary to support apprentices who are care leavers and are working to introduce a new feedback tool to allow employers to provide transparent feedback about the quality of training they receive from individual providers.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 28/06/2018 15:12:40 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

909658

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to meet with the British Chambers of Commerce to discuss its concerns about the apprenticeship levy, in particular the need for it to be made more flexible.
	tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
	uin	HL8153
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2018 answer text <p>Ministers have recently met with the British Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of British Industry, Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Business to listen to their feedback on quality reforms and the levy.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the changes to raise the quality of apprenticeships; creating long-term, sustainable investment in training for apprentices in all sectors and regions across the country. 37 per cent of apprentice starts are now on the new and improved apprenticeship standards.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeships levy is designed to achieve an increase in investment in apprenticeships, and by 2020 investment will be £2.45 billion, double that in 2010. It is right that the funds raised through the apprenticeship levy are spent training apprentices so that employers can access the skills they need.</p><p> </p><p>In response to employer feedback, we have introduced some flexibility to the levy. Levy-paying employers are now able to transfer up to 10 per cent of the annual value of funds entering their apprenticeship service account to other organisations to pay for training and assessment on apprenticeship standards. We are introducing transfers on a gradual basis, allowing levy payers to benefit from added flexibility whilst protecting the integrity and affordability of the programme and the interests of non-levied employers. We will monitor the implementation of transfers, including how the 10 per cent limit is working. Over the coming months, we will be working with employers and employer organisations to make sure that they are aware of the flexibilities that already exist around apprenticeships.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 06/06/2018 14:34:45 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie

909657

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely underspend from apprenticeship levy payments when the first funding period expires in April 2019.
	tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
	uin	HL8152
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2018 answer text <p>Between 6 May 2017, when the apprenticeship service went live, and the end of April 2018, levy paying employers drew down £207 million from their apprenticeship service accounts for new starts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education has a ring-fenced apprenticeship budget which has been set regardless of how much levy receipts are each year. This budget was set at £2.01 billion for the 2017-18 financial year. It is used to fund new apprenticeship starts in levy and non levy-paying employers and to cover the ongoing training costs of apprentices that are already in training.</p><p> </p><p>As the apprenticeship programme is demand led, and employers can choose which apprenticeships they offer, at what level and when, actual spend to April 2019 is still unknown.</p><p> </p><p>We will publish details on aggregate apprenticeship spending in our departmental end-of-year accounts as part of our normal financial reporting cycle.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL8151 question first answered 06/06/2018 11:42:42 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie

909656

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of total apprenticeship levy funds paid from April 2017 have been drawn down so far by employers.
	tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
	uin	HL8151
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2018 answer text <p>Between 6 May 2017, when the apprenticeship service went live, and the end of April 2018, levy paying employers drew down £207 million from their apprenticeship service accounts for new starts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education has a ring-fenced apprenticeship budget which has been set regardless of how much levy receipts are each year. This budget was set at £2.01 billion for the 2017-18 financial year. It is used to fund new apprenticeship starts in levy and non levy-paying employers and to cover the ongoing training costs of apprentices that are already in training.</p><p> </p><p>As the apprenticeship programme is demand led, and employers can choose which apprenticeships they offer, at what level and when, actual spend to April 2019 is still unknown.</p><p> </p><p>We will publish details on aggregate apprenticeship spending in our departmental end-of-year accounts as part of our normal financial reporting cycle.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton grouped question UIN HL8152 question first answered 06/06/2018 11:42:42 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie

1639886

	registered interest
	date	23/05/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how they will use the underspend of the apprenticeship levy.
	tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
	uin	HL8034
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2023 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.</p><p>The government, via HM Revenue and Customs, collects the apprenticeship levy of 0.5% on total payroll from businesses across the UK with a payroll of more than £3 million. From this, HM Treasury (HMT) sets an English apprenticeships budget for the department, and the devolved governments receive a share of the funding calculated using the Barnett formula.</p><p>The department’s apprenticeships budget is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in all employers, levy and non-levy paying employers alike, across England, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers. This means that levy payers’ unspent funds are used to support additional costs and apprenticeships in smaller employers.</p><p>In the 2021/22 financial year, the total spend on apprenticeships in England was £2,455 million, against the budget of £2,466 million, meaning that 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget was spent. Previous years’ spending on apprenticeships is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which can be accessed at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022</a>.</p><p>Any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are first returned to HMT, as per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance. As employers choose which apprenticeships they offer and when, annual spend of the apprenticeship budget is subject to employer demand.</p><p>The government is increasing apprenticeship funding to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and has removed the limit on the number of apprentices that small and medium-sized enterprises can recruit to support more employers to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 07/06/2023 12:23:26 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
	tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington