Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label attachment file name title
tabling member	label

Search

1679057

registered interest
date	19/12/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 3789 on Apprentices: Taxation, what the total expired unused Apprenticeship Levy funds were in each month since May 2019.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	7553
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/01/2024 answer text <p>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 to boost the skills of their workforces. As the apprenticeship levy is UK-wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.</p><p> </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. The department does not record industry, sector or organisation type when levy-paying employers register an apprenticeship service account. For this reason, data which shows which sectors were most or least likely to spend their funds cannot be provided. The department does hold information relating to individual employer accounts but it would not be appropriate to disclose this information without consulting with employers.</p><p> </p><p>Employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer up to 25% of their funds to other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses who do not pay the levy. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to draw on for 24 months before they expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. The table attached shows the total funds that expired from levy-paying employers apprenticeship service accounts in each month since May 2019. The decline in levy expiry value for October 2021 was due to a delay transferring levy into employer accounts. As a result, employers were granted an additional month to spend those funds, to ensure that the 24-month window to spend funds was maintained.</p><p> </p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships in England for employers of all sizes. As such, expired funds from employers’ accounts do not represent funding that is lost to the system. Rather, the department directs this funding to supporting apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to English and mathematics training for apprentices and to additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon grouped question UIN 7554 question first answered 08/01/2024 17:08:49 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon attachment 1 file name 7553_7554_Apprenticeship_levy_funds.xlsx title 7553 7554 Table
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1679058

registered interest
date	19/12/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) sectors and (b) employers were (i) most and (ii) least likely to utilise the funds provided through the apprenticeship levy in the latest period for which data is available.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	7554
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/01/2024 answer text <p>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 to boost the skills of their workforces. As the apprenticeship levy is UK-wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.</p><p> </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. The department does not record industry, sector or organisation type when levy-paying employers register an apprenticeship service account. For this reason, data which shows which sectors were most or least likely to spend their funds cannot be provided. The department does hold information relating to individual employer accounts but it would not be appropriate to disclose this information without consulting with employers.</p><p> </p><p>Employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer up to 25% of their funds to other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses who do not pay the levy. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to draw on for 24 months before they expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. The table attached shows the total funds that expired from levy-paying employers apprenticeship service accounts in each month since May 2019. The decline in levy expiry value for October 2021 was due to a delay transferring levy into employer accounts. As a result, employers were granted an additional month to spend those funds, to ensure that the 24-month window to spend funds was maintained.</p><p> </p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships in England for employers of all sizes. As such, expired funds from employers’ accounts do not represent funding that is lost to the system. Rather, the department directs this funding to supporting apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to English and mathematics training for apprentices and to additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon grouped question UIN 7553 question first answered 08/01/2024 17:08:49 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon attachment 1 file name 7553_7554_Apprenticeship_levy_funds.xlsx title 7553 7554 Table
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1678531

registered interest
date	18/12/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing employers in (a) commercial laundries and (b) other sectors to use 25% of their apprenticeship levy funds for non-apprenticeship training.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	7374
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/01/2024 answer text <p>I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 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 constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 08/01/2024 13:16:57 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1673149

registered interest
date	27/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the (a) amount raised through the apprenticeship levy and (b) number of apprenticeship levy service accounts in each year since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	3786
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2023 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is a key part of the government’s reforms to the apprenticeship system and enables employers of all sizes to make a long-term, sustainable and high-quality investment in training. Monthly receipts data for the apprenticeship levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their tax and national insurance contributions receipts publication, which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk</a>.</p><p>The table below shows the total number of levy-paying employer accounts created on the apprenticeship service in each financial yearsince its introduction in the 2016/17 financial year. It is pleasing to see annual increases in the number of levy-paying employers registering an account on the apprenticeship service.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>New accounts created</p></td><td><p>Total accounts (cumulative)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>4,630</p></td><td><p>4,630</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>8,640</p></td><td><p>13,270</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>2,970</p></td><td><p>16,240</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>2,030</p></td><td><p>18,270</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>1,870</p></td><td><p>20,140</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>1,920</p></td><td><p>22,060</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>1,280</p></td><td><p>23,340</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023/24</p></td><td><p>750</p></td><td><p>24,090</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 05/12/2023 12:19:53 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1673150

registered interest
date	27/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship levy funded service accounts have (a) utilised all of the funds in their account and (b) not utilised all of the funds available within the two-year time period in each year since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	3787
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2023 answer text <p>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> </p><p>In England, employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. 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> </p><p>The table below shows the number of registered employer apprenticeship service accounts that utilised all their funds available, as well as the number that did not, in each financial year since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that utilised all funds available</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that did not utilise all their funds available and therefore had expired funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>5650</p></td><td><p>7570</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>5030</p></td><td><p>10660</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>4930</p></td><td><p>11960</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>5210</p></td><td><p>12230</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>6790</p></td><td><p>11920</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Please note that:</p><ul><li>Funds remain available for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis; as employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019.</li><li>The sum of expiry figures for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years are not specified as funds do not expire for 24 months.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2017/2018 financial year will appear lower than future years due to the oldest funds in an employers’ accounts being utilised first.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2021/22 financial year only include data to October and therefore does not represent a full year.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are 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. Spend for the 2023/24 financial year, and for future years, will be set out in the department’s annual report and accounts which will be published when available. The apprenticeships budget beyond 2024/25 will be determined at the next Spending Review.</p><p>With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to spend funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer my right hon. Friend, the Member for Witham to the answer I gave on 10 November 2023 to Question <a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4862/contact" target="_blank">614</a>.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon grouped question UIN 3788 3789 3792 question first answered 13/12/2023 17:35:26 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1673153

registered interest
date	27/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of funds raised from the apprenticeship levy have remained unspent within the two year threshold in each year since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	3788
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2023 answer text <p>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> </p><p>In England, employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. 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> </p><p>The table below shows the number of registered employer apprenticeship service accounts that utilised all their funds available, as well as the number that did not, in each financial year since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that utilised all funds available</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that did not utilise all their funds available and therefore had expired funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>5650</p></td><td><p>7570</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>5030</p></td><td><p>10660</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>4930</p></td><td><p>11960</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>5210</p></td><td><p>12230</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>6790</p></td><td><p>11920</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Please note that:</p><ul><li>Funds remain available for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis; as employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019.</li><li>The sum of expiry figures for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years are not specified as funds do not expire for 24 months.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2017/2018 financial year will appear lower than future years due to the oldest funds in an employers’ accounts being utilised first.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2021/22 financial year only include data to October and therefore does not represent a full year.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are 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. Spend for the 2023/24 financial year, and for future years, will be set out in the department’s annual report and accounts which will be published when available. The apprenticeships budget beyond 2024/25 will be determined at the next Spending Review.</p><p>With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to spend funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer my right hon. Friend, the Member for Witham to the answer I gave on 10 November 2023 to Question <a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4862/contact" target="_blank">614</a>.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon grouped question UIN 3787 3789 3792 question first answered 13/12/2023 17:35:26 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1673156

registered interest
date	27/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the amount and proportion of apprenticeship levy funds that will be unspent in financial year 2023-24; and whether she has made an assessment of potential trends in the level and proportion of that underspend in each of the next five financial years.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	3789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2023 answer text <p>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> </p><p>In England, employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. 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> </p><p>The table below shows the number of registered employer apprenticeship service accounts that utilised all their funds available, as well as the number that did not, in each financial year since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that utilised all funds available</p></td><td><p>Number of registered employer accounts on the apprenticeship service that did not utilise all their funds available and therefore had expired funds</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>5650</p></td><td><p>7570</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>5030</p></td><td><p>10660</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>4930</p></td><td><p>11960</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>5210</p></td><td><p>12230</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>6790</p></td><td><p>11920</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>Please note that:</p><ul><li>Funds remain available for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis; as employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019.</li><li>The sum of expiry figures for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years are not specified as funds do not expire for 24 months.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2017/2018 financial year will appear lower than future years due to the oldest funds in an employers’ accounts being utilised first.</li><li>Expiry figures for the 2021/22 financial year only include data to October and therefore does not represent a full year.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are 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. Spend for the 2023/24 financial year, and for future years, will be set out in the department’s annual report and accounts which will be published when available. The apprenticeships budget beyond 2024/25 will be determined at the next Spending Review.</p><p>With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to spend funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer my right hon. Friend, the Member for Witham to the answer I gave on 10 November 2023 to Question <a href="https://members.parliament.uk/member/4862/contact" target="_blank">614</a>.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon grouped question UIN 3787 3788 3792 question first answered 13/12/2023 17:35:26 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

1671344

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to support training needs in the road haulage sector.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	2468
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2023 answer text <p>This department continues to work closely with the Department for Transport and across government to ensure that the road haulage sector has access to the skills training that employers need. This engagement has led to important improvements to apprenticeships and skills bootcamps. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not met with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport to discuss reform of the apprenticeship levy.</p><p>The apprenticeship levy has enabled the department to increase investment to a total of £2.7 billion by 2024/25, which will support apprenticeship starts across every sector, including road haulage. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education regularly reviews the funding for apprenticeship standards. The department has recently increased funding for the heavy goods vehicle service and maintenance technician apprenticeship standard by 33% (from £15,000 to £20,000), the large goods vehicle apprenticeship standard by 14% (£7,000 to £8,000) and the motor vehicle service technician apprenticeship standard by 7% (£15,000 to £16,000). These increases are supporting providers deliver essential training across the sector.</p><p>In response to supply issues for driver training and testing in the transport sector, the department also introduced temporary arrangements through the apprenticeship system, so that more providers could deliver training and testing for the acquisition of a driving license.</p><p>Skills bootcamps are also providing opportunities for people to train as drivers, gain their licenses and launch new careers in road haulage sector. The department has invested up to £32 million to create up to 11,000 HGV driver training places, with further funding being allocated to support this training offer in the 2023/24 financial year.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 24/11/2023 13:46:01 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1671539

registered interest
date	20/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on the uptake of apprenticeships.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	2596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>Since 2010, there have been over 5.5 million apprenticeship starts. During that time, the department has built a new skills system from the ground up which better meets the needs of employers and apprentices today.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017 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.</p><p> </p><p>There have been over 2.2 million apprenticeship starts in employers of all sizes across England since the levy was introduced. There are now over 680 high quality standards available from entry level right through to masters level, with over 5,000 employers involved in their development. There is now a much broader range of apprenticeships than ever before in occupations such as architect, cyber security, and nursing, in addition to traditional occupations like bricklayer, plumber, or hairdresser.</p><p> </p><p>More apprentices are now taking higher level subjects linked to higher paid jobs in key areas. Starts on higher apprenticeships at Level 4 and above have more than doubled, from 48,150 in the 2017/18 academic year to 106,360 in the 2021/22 academic year. The department has also seen year-on-year growth of degree level apprenticeships with almost 196,000 starts since their introduction in 2014. The department is providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access them.</p><p> </p><p>The apprenticeship levy has enabled the government to increase investment in the apprenticeships system in England, reaching £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. In the past two financial years, on average 98% of the English apprenticeship budget was spent showing strong demand by employers for high quality apprenticeships training. Large employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business, or they can transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeship training in small and medium sized businesses which allows employers of all sizes to benefit from training apprentices.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 28/11/2023 13:05:02 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1667542

registered interest
date	07/11/2023
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	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider the potential merits of increasing the apprenticeship levy transfer ceiling to 35%.
tabling member constituency	Stoke-on-Trent North
tabling member printed	Jonathan Gullis
uin	540
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2023 answer text <p>The department is supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and has improved the transfer system to make it easier to find other employers who wish to take on apprentices with transferred funds. Levy transfers are a great way for employers to transfer their funds to other employers in their supply chains, including small employers, flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities to help meet local or sector-specific needs.</p><p>Levy-paying employers have been able to transfer 25% of their annual funds since April 2019, when this was increased from 10%, and have been able to use an online service since 2021 to make the process easier.</p><p>Since the new service launched in September 2021, we have seen 418 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe and BT Group, pledge to transfer over £28 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes as of 9 June 2023.</p><p>Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can also access funding directly from the apprenticeships budget. The department is working to remove unnecessary barriers, making it simpler and quicker for them to set up an apprenticeship service account, to access funding and to support them to take on their first apprentice. The department has also removed the limit of 10 apprentices a year that SMEs can take on, enabling them to take on as many skilled apprentices as they need.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 14/11/2023 15:04:43 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4814 label Biography information for Jonathan Gullis