Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the total receipts from the Apprenticeship Levy were, what was the total expenditure on apprenticeship training, in each of the last five financial years; and what plans they have to increase the proportion of Apprenticeship Levy receipts allocated to apprenticeship training.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK wide Apprenticeship Levy, which is paid at a rate of 0.5% by employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million, is not legally hypothecated and, as such, revenues from the levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund and not directly allocated to apprenticeships.
HM Treasury separately sets the apprenticeship budget at each Spending Review. When setting the budget, the Government considers its wider investment in skills, ensuring businesses can benefit from a highly skilled workforce. We are investing over £18 billion a year in skills and post-16 education, including record investment in apprenticeships.
While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. This means that the devolved governments receive funding through the Barnett formula in relation to English apprenticeship spending as part of their block grant. It is for the devolved governments to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.
The Government is transforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy, investing a further £1 billion across the Spending Review period to support more apprenticeships for young people and greater flexibility for employers. On 28 September, the Chancellor announced £100m of investment over two years to expand local apprenticeship services, so that all current mayors are able to deliver tailored local support that helps young people access apprenticeships and supports employers to create apprenticeship opportunities.
Monthly and Annual receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy in the United Kingdom are published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax Receipts and National Insurance Contribution publication.[1] The total receipts from the Apprenticeship Levy over the last 5 years are as follows:
Financial Year | 21-22 | 22-23 | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 |
Apprenticeship Levy receipts | £3,213m | £3,580m | £3,841m | £4,100m | £4,391m |
The final budget position of the Growth and Skills Levy budget for the last 5 financial years in England is:
Financial Year | 21-22 | 22-23 | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 |
|
Growth and Skills Levy Budget | £2,466m | £2,554m | £2,585m | £2,769m | £3,114m |
[1] HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for enhanced industrial collaboration between the UK and Turkish defence industries; and what steps they are taking to facilitate such collaboration.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Defence industrial co-operation is an important element of the UK's defence relationship with Türkiye. The Government recognises the value of closer engagement between UK and Turkish defence industries, as reflected by the UK-Türkiye Security and Defence Partnership signed in July 2026. The Government continues to facilitate defence industrial collaboration through regular engagements with Türkiye. This has included a trade mission in February; a ministerial delegation at SAHA Expo, Türkiye's premier defence and aerospace exhibition; and hosting a Turkish delegation at Farnborough International Airshow, where they met with UK industry and UK Government representatives. We will continue to work with industry and Turkish counterparts through the UK-Türkiye Defence Industry Council to identify opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration including in third-country markets.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Türkiye’s contribution to countering Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria; and what discussions they have had with the Turkish government on counter-terrorism cooperation to support a stable and secure transition in Syria.
Answered by Lord Wood of Anfield - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Turkey is a valued ally sharing many of our priorities. We engage frequently at Ministerial level on Syria, including through the UK-Turkey Syria Dialogue with the last round held on 28 October. We share the objective of defeating Daesh and are looking to deepen our co-operation. We also work together through the Global Coalition Against Daesh and co-chair the Islamic State Korasan Province (ISKP)/Daesh-Afghanistan Focus Group, which is aligned with the Coalition. Security and stability in Syria are vital to ensure Daesh's territorial defeat is maintained and it cannot resurge.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of training providers in supporting people who are unemployed or economically inactive into sustained employment; and what steps they are taking to work with training providers to improve access to skills and employment support.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Training providers play an important role in helping unemployed and economically inactive people develop the skills needed to move into sustained employment, and in helping employers access the skilled workers they need to drive growth and productivity.
Jobcentres work closely with training providers, Local Authorities, and Mayoral Strategic Authorities to develop suitable training provision to address the skills gaps faced by customers. Evidence shows that training is most effective when it is closely aligned with employer demand and genuine employment opportunities. For example, DWP’s Sector-based Work Academy Programmes work in partnership with training providers and employers to help route customers into local vacancies by delivering training, work experience, and a guaranteed job interview. We are expanding access to skills and employment support through the creation of 300,0000 new work experience and training opportunities.
To deliver more local training opportunities, we are spending around £1.4 billion this academic year through the Adult Skills Fund, to support classroom-based learning up to and including level 3.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and promote Age Without Limits Day across government departments, and whether they plan to develop a strategy to address ageism in society.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge the commitment of the organisers of the Age Without Limits Day and will follow it with interest. Ageism has no place in our society where we want to see and build inclusion, not exclusion.
The Equality Act 2010 has strong protections that enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including recruitment processes. These protections make it unlawful for an employer, service provider or someone exercising public functions to treat a person less favourably because of age, unless this can be objectively justified.
Any older person who may have been personally discriminated against because of age may also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, by telephone on 0808 8000082 or text phone on 0808 8000084. The EASS has the ability to intervene on an individual’s behalf with a service provider to help resolve an issue. The EASS can also advise people who wish to take their complaint further on their options.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Minister for Women and Equalities plans to take part in activities to mark Age Without Limits Day; and what role the Office for Equality and Opportunity will play in highlighting ageism as a cross-cutting issue.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge the commitment of the organisers of the Age Without Limits Day and will follow it with interest. Ageism has no place in our society where we want to see and build inclusion, not exclusion.
The Equality Act 2010 has strong protections that enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including recruitment processes. These protections make it unlawful for an employer, service provider or someone exercising public functions to treat a person less favourably because of age, unless this can be objectively justified.
Any older person who may have been personally discriminated against because of age may also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, by telephone on 0808 8000082 or text phone on 0808 8000084. The EASS has the ability to intervene on an individual’s behalf with a service provider to help resolve an issue. The EASS can also advise people who wish to take their complaint further on their options.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to supporting the aims of Age Without Limits Day, and whether they will take steps to raise awareness of age-related discrimination.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge the commitment of the organisers of the Age Without Limits Day and will follow it with interest. Ageism has no place in our society where we want to see and build inclusion, not exclusion.
The Equality Act 2010 has strong protections that enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including recruitment processes. These protections make it unlawful for an employer, service provider or someone exercising public functions to treat a person less favourably because of age, unless this can be objectively justified.
Any older person who may have been personally discriminated against because of age may also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the government helpline established to provide free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns. The EASS can be contacted via their website - http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/, by telephone on 0808 8000082 or text phone on 0808 8000084. The EASS has the ability to intervene on an individual’s behalf with a service provider to help resolve an issue. The EASS can also advise people who wish to take their complaint further on their options.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prevalence of age discrimination in recruitment and employment, and what steps they are taking to combat that discrimination.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is not possible to accurately estimate the prevalence of age discrimination in recruitment and employment because not all such discrimination is reported or challenged and in some cases such differential treatment can be objectively justified.
The Equality Act 2010 (The Act) provides strong protection against discrimination related to age in both an employment and service provision context, as age is one of the nine protected characteristics listed in The Act. In addition, employers are not permitted to use a default retirement age for their employees.
These protections enable people to challenge age discrimination across a range of fields, including recruitment processes and when in work. Where age discrimination in recruitment and employment cannot be objectively justified and is unlawful, individuals can seek redress at an employment tribunal.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address age-related disparities in mental health provision, particularly in assess to talking therapies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s mission is to improve mental health care across the spectrum of need so that people of all ages can access the right support at the right time.
NHS England is committed to ensuring that the proportion of people aged 65 years old and over receiving a course of treatment through NHS Talking Therapies is maintained or increased. Currently, approximately 7% of courses of treatment delivered by NHS Talking Therapies services are for individuals in this age group.
The Positive Practice Guide, published in 2024 by NHS England and other stakeholder organisations, is designed to support therapists working with older adults. This resource addresses the diverse needs of older people and seeks to challenge misconceptions that may act as barriers to older people accessing psychological therapies.
Asked by: Baroness Verma (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have created the new Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund and not one that commits to combating hatred against people of all faiths.
Answered by Lord Khan of Burnley
All forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable, and this government is committed to tackling this wherever it manifests. Our efforts to build a country of tolerance and inclusion apply to people of all faiths and none.
The recent hate crime statistics showed almost 2 in 5 religious hate crimes were targeted against Muslims, which is why the Government announced this funding to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hate and support victims. With cases on the rise, up-to-date and detailed information on incidents and drivers of this form of hatred will play a fundamental part in supporting the government to combat anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia and ensure Muslim communities feel safe and supported.
No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this.
The Government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of all forms of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.
We are committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion and we will not tolerate religious hatred in any form.