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1135847

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Public Consultation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the March 2019 report by the National Audit Office and current inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee into apprenticeships, if he will launch a public consultation on the future of the apprenticeships programme.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271482
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We welcome the Public Accounts Committee’s recent report and were pleased that the Committee has acknowledged our focus on putting quality at the heart of our apprenticeship reforms.</p><p>The government is carefully considering the Committee’s findings and will respond in due course. We keep all aspects of our policy under review in order that apprenticeships continue to support employers in developing the skills they need to grow, in addition to offering value for money for the taxpayer.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:37:02 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1133681

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much apprenticeship levy was paid by levy employers in (a) May 2017 and expired in April 2019 and (b) June 2017 and expired in May 2019 because the funds had not been used.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	267318
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2019 answer text <p>When employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy, their contribution (as well as a 10% top up) is made available to them via the digital apprenticeship service to spend on apprenticeships in England.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that employers want and need flexibility. Employers have 24 months to spend their levy and levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of funds to other employers.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds. The amount of funds entering employer’ accounts in June 2017 was £152 million, for which the expiry of unspent funds will occur at the end of June 2019.</p><p> </p><p>These figures are for employers in England and include the 10% government top up. The proportion of an employer’s levy contributions made available as funds in their digital apprenticeship service account depends on how many of their employees live in England and the proportion of their pay bill paid to these employees.</p><p> </p><p>Unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeships learners, levy paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy paying employers.</p><p> </p><p>We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information on a monthly basis.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 267319 question first answered 28/06/2019 10:29:05 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1133682

	registered interest
	date	20/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish from May 2019 the monthly (a) proportion and (b) amount of unused apprenticeship levy following the expiry of the two-year period for its use.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	267319
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2019 answer text <p>When employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy, their contribution (as well as a 10% top up) is made available to them via the digital apprenticeship service to spend on apprenticeships in England.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that employers want and need flexibility. Employers have 24 months to spend their levy and levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of funds to other employers.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds. The amount of funds entering employer’ accounts in June 2017 was £152 million, for which the expiry of unspent funds will occur at the end of June 2019.</p><p> </p><p>These figures are for employers in England and include the 10% government top up. The proportion of an employer’s levy contributions made available as funds in their digital apprenticeship service account depends on how many of their employees live in England and the proportion of their pay bill paid to these employees.</p><p> </p><p>Unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeships learners, levy paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy paying employers.</p><p> </p><p>We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information on a monthly basis.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 267318 question first answered 28/06/2019 10:29:06 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1133869

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the barriers preventing NHS organisations from being able to fully utilise their Apprenticeship Levy funds; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	267747
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are working together, along with employers and Health Education England (HEE), to make sure that the NHS is fully supported to recruit the apprentices that they need to deliver high quality care.</p><p>I met my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health, in January 2019, where we had a constructive discussion about the ways in which we are jointly supporting the NHS. The detailed steps that we have taken together are set out in the government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry on nurse degree apprenticeships, which was published in March 2019.</p><p>We are already seeing the positive impact that apprenticeships can make in the NHS to workforce recruitment and retention. For example, in the last financial year, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust employed nearly 600 Level 2 to 7 apprentices, across 29 programmes and a variety of disciplines, ranging from Business Administration to Facilities Management to Dental Nursing. The Trust has used the apprenticeship levy to build interest across the organisation and attract employees into rewarding apprenticeship roles.</p><p>In addition, Registered Nurse degree apprenticeship and Nursing Associate starts in the first half of 2018/19 are 77% and 30% higher respectively than the starts reported in the entire 2017/18 year.</p><p>Both departments continue to collaborate and work closely with employers and our delivery partners to share best practice and support a wide programme of activities to help NHS employers to get the most from our apprenticeship reforms.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 26/06/2019 14:34:23 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1133870

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) proportion and (b) total value of Apprenticeship Levy funds available to NHS organisations is currently unspent; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	267748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>As the NHS is made up of a large number of diverse employers, it is not possible to identify apprenticeship levy contributions or expired funds for the NHS as a whole. Moreover, due to taxpayer confidentiality, we are unable to publish the amount that individual employers have contributed through the apprenticeship levy.</p><p>We introduced the levy to create long-term sustainable investment in high quality apprenticeship training. Widening the scope of the apprenticeship levy would divert funding away from apprenticeship training and reduce the opportunities for individuals and employers to benefit from them. It is important that we maximise the effectiveness of government investment in training and our reforms are making sure that apprenticeships are delivering the high quality training that both individuals and employers need.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 267749 question first answered 26/06/2019 14:38:46 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1133871

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing NHS organisations to use their Apprenticeship Levy funds to cover the backfill costs incurred by providing apprenticeship places.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	267749
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>As the NHS is made up of a large number of diverse employers, it is not possible to identify apprenticeship levy contributions or expired funds for the NHS as a whole. Moreover, due to taxpayer confidentiality, we are unable to publish the amount that individual employers have contributed through the apprenticeship levy.</p><p>We introduced the levy to create long-term sustainable investment in high quality apprenticeship training. Widening the scope of the apprenticeship levy would divert funding away from apprenticeship training and reduce the opportunities for individuals and employers to benefit from them. It is important that we maximise the effectiveness of government investment in training and our reforms are making sure that apprenticeships are delivering the high quality training that both individuals and employers need.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 267748 question first answered 26/06/2019 14:38:46 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1133872

	registered interest
	date	21/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value of Apprenticeship Levy funds expiring from employers' accounts was in May 2019; and what plans the Government has for those funds.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	267750
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2019 answer text <p>The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds.</p><p>As well as funding apprenticeships in levy-paying employers, levy contributions are also used to fund training for existing apprenticeship learners and new apprenticeships in non- levy paying employers. We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds in their accounts, however they are able to.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 26/06/2019 14:26:00 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1134093

	registered interest
	date	24/06/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department allocated from the apprenticeship budget to (a) apprenticeship levy paying employers, (b) top up payments to apprenticeship levy paying employers, (c) non-apprenticeship levy paying employers, (d) ongoing costs of apprenticeships already in training prior to 1 April 2017, (e) English and maths qualifications, (f) incentive payments for 16- to 18-year-old apprentices and (g) additional support for apprentices that are care leavers or have special needs in financial year (i) 2017-2018 and (ii) 2018-19.
	tabling member constituency	Salford and Eccles
	tabling member printed	Rebecca Long Bailey
	uin	268543
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2019 answer text <p>The balance that levy payers see in their apprenticeship service accounts is distinct from the department’s ring-fenced apprenticeships budget. The balance in employers’ accounts is based on their total levy contributions and how many of their employees live in England. The department also tops up these funds by 10% after this English portion has been calculated.</p><p>Levy-paying employers can use the funds in their accounts to place orders for the training and assessment of their apprentices. The department then pays the relevant providers and end-point assessment organisations directly from its ring-fenced apprenticeships budget. An amount equal to the value of this provider payment is also deducted from the levy payer’s account balance.</p><p>The department’s ring-fenced apprenticeship budget is set in advance by Her Majesty’s Treasury to fund apprenticeships in England only. The expenditure on various parts of the apprenticeship programme is calculated based on the cash payments made from this ring-fenced budget.</p><p>It should be noted that aggregated information on spending by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the department for 2017-18 is held by the ESFA and included here, but information for 2018-19 will be published in the audited annual reports and accounts later this year. Annual data on levy collected in 2018-19 will be published by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.</p><p>In 2017-18, spending on apprentices employed with levy payers, and who started training after the levy was introduced, was £268 million.</p><p>In making employers’ levy contributions available as funds in their apprenticeship service accounts, the government applies a 10-per-cent top-up to these contributions. However, the balances in these accounts are distinct from the department’s ring-fenced budget for apprenticeships. Where employers are using some or all of this top-up to fund new apprenticeships, this spend is reflected in the answer to (A) above.</p><p>£189 million was spent on training for apprentices who started on or after 1 May 2017 with employers who do not pay the levy. In 2017/18, £1,065 million was spent on ongoing costs of training apprentices who started before the levy was introduced in May 2017.</p><p>Of the £457 million spent on new starts in 2017-18 (£268 million on levy payers and £189 million on non-levy payers), £38 million was spent on English and Maths teaching. £72 million was spent on additional provider payments and employer payments for apprentices aged 16 to 18 and apprentices aged up to 24 years old who have either an education, health and care plan or who have been in local authority care. £27 million was spent on other smaller elements of funding policy, such as learning support.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 27/06/2019 15:40:49 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4396 label Biography information for Rebecca Long Bailey

1135848

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether apprenticeship levy-paying employers will continue to be able to use half of the funds that they contribute to the apprenticeship levy; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Levy-paying employers are able to use all of the funds that they contribute to the apprenticeship levy and which are available to them in their apprenticeship service account. In addition, employers receive a 10% top-up to the funds entering their account every month which they are also able to spend on apprenticeship training and assessment.</p><p>We continue to keep all aspects of funding policy under review.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 14:45:42 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1135849

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help apprenticeship levy-paying employers to use more of the levy funding available to them than the 15 per cent that they used between 2017 and 2019; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Spending on apprenticeships is demand-led. Employers can choose the type, level and quantity of apprenticeships that they offer, as well as when they offer the apprenticeships, to meet their current and future skills needs.</p><p>Between May 2017 and April 2019, levy-paying employers spent 18% of the funds available to them on the training and assessment of new apprentices. In addition, levy-paying employers will also have benefitted from ongoing funding for apprenticeships for their employees which started prior to the introduction of the levy. They will also benefit from additional payments to support apprentices employed with levy-payers (such as English and Maths teaching and payments to support disadvantaged learners), and 95% of the funding for training for any apprenticeships started once their levy funds have been exhausted.</p><p>The Education and Skills Funding Agency works closely with employers, for example through webinars and employer roadshows, to encourage them to increase the number of apprenticeships that they offer and make the most of the long-term benefits that apprenticeships can bring to their organisations. We have ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,000 of the largest levy-paying employers through our national account managers, and ongoing support via telephone for small and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to invest their levy funds.</p><p>To further support all employers to make the long-term, sustainable investment in training, we have increased the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers from 10% to 25%.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts. Income from the levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:12:08 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin