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1338296

registered interest
date	21/06/2021
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 plans they have to reform the apprenticeship levy; and what plans they have to redistribute unused funds from the apprenticeship levy to other forms of post-16 education and training.
tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
uin	HL1220
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms to apprenticeships. As well as funding new apprenticeships for levy-paying employers, income from the levy is used to fund new apprenticeships for employers that do not pay the levy, as well as existing apprentices that started in previous years. Levy-paying employers have 24 months in which to spend the funds available to them before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to do so if they wish. Expired apprenticeship levy funds are not lost but are used to support apprenticeships in smaller employers and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training.</p><p>Apprenticeships are vital in driving economic recovery, and we continue to improve apprenticeships to make it easier for employers to make full use of their levy funds. Levy-paying employers can transfer up to 25% of their annual funds to help support apprenticeship starts in their supply chain or to meet local skills needs. As announced at the Spending Review by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are improving the apprenticeship levy transfer process so that, from August 2021, employers who pay the levy will be able to pledge funds for transfer to other employers, including small-medium enterprises (SMEs), supported by a new online service to match levy payers with SMEs.</p><p>In addition, we are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers from all sectors. We continue to support employers by encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning (e.g. T Level graduates) can complete an apprenticeship more quickly.</p><p>We currently have no plans to review what apprenticeship levy funds can be spent on.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 05/07/2021 15:53:59 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington

1315619

registered interest
date	18/05/2021
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 amount of apprenticeship levy funding has remained unspent after a period of 24 months in each month since January 2018.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Mr Toby Perkins
uin	2947
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy paying employers to use for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month by month basis. Employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 and unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019.</p><p>The attached table shows the figures for monthly levy expiry from May 2019 to date.</p><p>The levy is an important part of our reforms to apprenticeships which are vital for driving our economic recovery. It supports employers of all sizes to invest in high quality apprenticeship training. In the 2021-22 financial year, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England will remain around £2.5 billion – double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year in cash terms.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. As well as funding new apprenticeships in levy paying employers, income from the levy is used to fund new apprenticeships in employers that do not pay the levy, as well as existing apprentices that started in previous years.</p><p>The funds available to levy paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the Department for Education’s annual apprenticeships budget. The annual apprenticeship budget is set by Her Majesty's Treasury, and although closely linked, is distinct from the total levy income collected by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.</p><p>Details of apprenticeship budget spend for the 2020-21 financial year will be included in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts which is due to be published in November 2021.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan grouped question UIN 2948 question first answered 24/05/2021 12:33:56 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan attachment 1 file name 2947_2948_monthly_levy_expiry_from_May_2019_to_date.xls title 2947_2948_table_monthly_levy_expiry_from_May_2019
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

1315620

registered interest
date	18/05/2021
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, when he plans to announce the amount of the total apprenticeship levy underspend for the financial year 2020-21; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Chesterfield
tabling member printed	Mr Toby Perkins
uin	2948
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy paying employers to use for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month by month basis. Employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 and unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019.</p><p>The attached table shows the figures for monthly levy expiry from May 2019 to date.</p><p>The levy is an important part of our reforms to apprenticeships which are vital for driving our economic recovery. It supports employers of all sizes to invest in high quality apprenticeship training. In the 2021-22 financial year, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England will remain around £2.5 billion – double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year in cash terms.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. As well as funding new apprenticeships in levy paying employers, income from the levy is used to fund new apprenticeships in employers that do not pay the levy, as well as existing apprentices that started in previous years.</p><p>The funds available to levy paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the Department for Education’s annual apprenticeships budget. The annual apprenticeship budget is set by Her Majesty's Treasury, and although closely linked, is distinct from the total levy income collected by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.</p><p>Details of apprenticeship budget spend for the 2020-21 financial year will be included in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts which is due to be published in November 2021.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan grouped question UIN 2947 question first answered 24/05/2021 12:33:56 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan attachment 1 file name 2947_2948_monthly_levy_expiry_from_May_2019_to_date.xls title 2947_2948_table_monthly_levy_expiry_from_May_2019
tabling member	3952 label Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins

1314221

registered interest
date	12/05/2021
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 steps they are taking to reduce the amount of unspent apprenticeship levy funds.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL200
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms to apprenticeships, which are vital for our economic recovery. As well as funding new apprenticeships for levy-paying employers, income from the levy is used to fund new apprenticeships for employers that do not pay the levy, as well as existing apprentices that started in previous years. Levy-paying employers have 24 months in which to spend the funds available to them before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. Expired apprenticeship levy funds are not lost but are used to support apprenticeships in smaller employers and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training.</p><p>We continue to improve apprenticeships and to make it easier for employers to make full use of their levy funds. Levy-paying employers can transfer up to 25% of their annual funds to help support apprenticeship starts in their supply chain or to meet local skills needs. As announced at the Spending Review by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are improving the apprenticeship levy transfer process so that, from August 2021, employers who pay the levy will be able to pledge funds for transfer to other employers, including small-medium enterprises (SMEs), supported by a new online service to match levy payers with SMEs.</p><p>In addition, we are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers from all sectors. We continue to support employers by encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning (e.g. T Level graduates) can complete an apprenticeship more quickly.</p><p>We are also introducing a £7 million fund from July 2021 to help employers in England set up and expand flexi-job apprenticeship schemes, enabling people to work across multiple projects with different employers and benefit from the high-quality long-term training that an apprenticeship provides. We are consulting with employers to seek views on our vision and on how flexi-job apprenticeship schemes can support the growth of apprenticeships in certain sectors and professions.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 24/05/2021 10:53:34 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1167493

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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, with reference to the Government’s apprenticeship and levy statistics, published in October 2019, how many of the 780 recorded accounts of apprenticeship levy voucher transfers resulting on starts on standards were transferred from levy-paying companies to non-levy paying small to medium-sized employers; and what proportion of those apprenticeships were in the construction sector.
tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
uin	7734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Levy-paying employers in England do not use digital vouchers. Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for training and assessment and to transfer to other employers</p><p><br> In October 2019, the apprenticeships and levy statistics publication reported that there were 780 transferred commitments that have materialised into apprenticeship starts as recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) as at 31 August 2019. Of these, 20 (2.7%) were starts in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area.</p><p>Please note:<br> 1) The figures above are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentage to 1 decimal place.</p><p>2) The percentage is derived from unrounded figures.</p><p>3) The figures above show only those transfers where a start is taking place on a standard in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area. The construction industry sector could include starts on standards in other sector subject areas (i.e. Business, Administration and Law). <br> <br> We are unable to identify whether a transfer between apprenticeship service accounts was from a levy-paying company to a non-levy paying company as we do not centrally hold data on the size of employer and their industry sector. This means we cannot identify if these transfers of levy funds were to the apprenticeship service accounts of small to medium-sized employers. The Department for Education does, however, periodically perform an analysis linking ILR data to the Inter-Departmental Business Register data (held by the Office for National Statistics) to identify the size and industry sector of employers, with the most recent analysis covering the 2016/17 academic year. Thes statistics are available at the following link:<br> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 16:37:23 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1167499

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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 assessment he has made of the ability of apprenticeship levy paying employers to transfer levy funds to non-levy paying employers.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	7647
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to supporting employers to engage with apprenticeships to help invest in the long-term skills needs of their business. We have already seen employers making use of transfers to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains, or to meet local skills needs. Since April 2018 there have been 1,020 transferred commitments where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts had been approved. Of these transferred commitments, 780 have so far resulted in apprenticeship starts.</p><p>We have taken a number of steps to make it easier for levy-paying employers to transfer funds to other employers. In response to employer feedback, in April 2019 we raised the cap on transfers to 25% of the annual value of funds entering levy-payers’ apprenticeship service accounts. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.</p><p>Transfers give levy-paying employers more options in how they use their levy funds, as well as creating apprenticeship opportunities for organisations who may have previously felt that employing an apprentice was beyond their reach. We are pleased to see that levy payers with uncommitted funds are increasingly using transfers to support apprenticeship starts in non-levy paying employers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:08:24 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1167501

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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 estimate he has made of the number of GTA England members that have been unable to access apprenticeship funding since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	7649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that our reforms to apprenticeships work for smaller employers and their providers, such as group training associations (GTAs).</p><p> </p><p>GTAs are important members of the training provider market, working for groups of employers to provide high quality training. We ran a procurement exercise to secure high-quality training to support small and medium-sized employers from January 2018 to April 2019. This was a highly competitive exercise attracting interest from a wide range of training providers and we recognise that not all providers were successful in the competition. The contracts we awarded have been subsequently extended to April 2020, supported by over £700 million funding for new starts and existing apprentices.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to these contracts, the smaller employers are also able to receive transfers from levy-paying employers, allowing GTAs access to levy-funded training. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18-year-olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year, we confirmed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, would soon be able to access the benefits of using the award-winning apprenticeship service (AS). The AS, already in use by large levy paying employers, will give SMEs greater control over choosing their apprenticeships, a greater range of training providers to engage with, and a new route to access apprenticeship funding.</p><p> </p><p>We announced at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference on 29 October 2019 that from January we will begin to transition SMEs onto the service, and will be supporting up to an additional 5,000 starts per month from January to March 2020 for employers that don’t pay the levy. We will be issuing more detail on the transition arrangements from November and throughout 2020.</p><p> </p><p>Officials meet regularly with GTA England to discuss training provision, including in respect of apprenticeships. We also work closely with the AELP, the Learning and Work Institute, and the Association of Colleges to consider a range of sectoral issues and to ensure that our apprenticeships reforms continue to work for employers of all sizes, including charities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan grouped question UIN 7650 question first answered 04/11/2019 14:40:24 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1167502

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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 discussions he has had with (a) GTA England, (b) Association of Employment and Learning Providers, (c) Learning and Work Institute and (d) Association of Colleges on the adequacy of the level of allocation of apprenticeship levy funds for non-levy paying registered charities.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	7650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to ensuring that our reforms to apprenticeships work for smaller employers and their providers, such as group training associations (GTAs).</p><p> </p><p>GTAs are important members of the training provider market, working for groups of employers to provide high quality training. We ran a procurement exercise to secure high-quality training to support small and medium-sized employers from January 2018 to April 2019. This was a highly competitive exercise attracting interest from a wide range of training providers and we recognise that not all providers were successful in the competition. The contracts we awarded have been subsequently extended to April 2020, supported by over £700 million funding for new starts and existing apprentices.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to these contracts, the smaller employers are also able to receive transfers from levy-paying employers, allowing GTAs access to levy-funded training. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18-year-olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year, we confirmed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, would soon be able to access the benefits of using the award-winning apprenticeship service (AS). The AS, already in use by large levy paying employers, will give SMEs greater control over choosing their apprenticeships, a greater range of training providers to engage with, and a new route to access apprenticeship funding.</p><p> </p><p>We announced at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference on 29 October 2019 that from January we will begin to transition SMEs onto the service, and will be supporting up to an additional 5,000 starts per month from January to March 2020 for employers that don’t pay the levy. We will be issuing more detail on the transition arrangements from November and throughout 2020.</p><p> </p><p>Officials meet regularly with GTA England to discuss training provision, including in respect of apprenticeships. We also work closely with the AELP, the Learning and Work Institute, and the Association of Colleges to consider a range of sectoral issues and to ensure that our apprenticeships reforms continue to work for employers of all sizes, including charities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan grouped question UIN 7649 question first answered 04/11/2019 14:40:24 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1167088

registered interest
date	29/10/2019
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 implications for his policies of the October 2019 report Learning and Work Institute report, Bridging the Gap: next steps for the apprenticeship levy, which has found that the levy fund could be overspent by £1 billion in the next year.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	7174
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is collected by HM Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. Separately, HM Treasury sets the Department for Education a fixed, annual budget for apprenticeships in England. This budget is distinct from the levy and is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers, and must also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training<em>. </em></p><p> </p><p>We welcome employers designing higher-level apprenticeships which are longer and require more off-the-job training. However, we are conscious that this will increase costs in the longer-term. In 2019-20, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion and we expect to remain within budget this financial year. The recent spending settlement has set the department’s budget for 2020-21. We keep apprenticeships funding policy under review to ensure that apprenticeships continue to be affordable and offer value for money for the taxpayer. We will consider how apprenticeships can continue to meet the changing needs of employers as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 16:39:56 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

1156138

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
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 ensure that employers in the screen industry use more of the apprenticeship levy funding they receive.
tabling member constituency	Wantage
tabling member printed	Mr Edward Vaizey
uin	4963
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>We are working closely with the screen industry so that it can benefit from apprenticeships.</p><p>The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education are working with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to support the development of apprenticeship standards. Currently there are 48 approved standards available for delivery in the creative and digital sectors.</p><p>From discussions with the screen sector, we recognise that it faces some challenges in spending available levy funds due to the dominance of project-based working in the sector. To overcome these challenges, we are working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and ScreenSkills on an innovative Film and TV Apprenticeships pilot which will enable around 20 apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and TV shows. Launching in 2020, it will explore a new model for how high-quality apprenticeships can be used to deliver multiple placements on film and TV productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.</p><p>In addition, we have increased the transfer cap from 10% to 25% enabling levy-paying employers to transfer funds to smaller employers or charities in order to support the development of skills in their supply chains or respond to skills shortages in their sectors.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 30/10/2019 19:49:41 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot