Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of withdrawing funding for level 7 apprenticeships on the number of people completing these apprenticeships.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

From January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships except for young apprentices under the age of 22 and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers. All current level 7 apprentices and any who start before 1 January 2026 will be funded through to completion.

This decision was informed by a wide range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding.

We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the average number of weeks that learner drivers are waiting to take their driving test in Derbyshire; and what steps she is taking to reduce this.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

The driving test centres (DTC) that serve candidates in the Derbyshire area are Derby, Chesterfield, Worksop, Ashfield and Buxton. The current average waiting time in weeks for a car practical driving test at these DTCs is 24 weeks.

Average waiting times are measured by calculating, at a full-time test centre level, the first week in the 24-week booking window where at least 10% of slots released to the public are available to book.

DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. Since July last year, DVSA has recruited and trained 290 driving examiners (DE) who are now in post and delivering driving tests. A full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.

From recent recruitment in Derbyshire, one new entrant DE, following successful completion of training, will join Derby DTC. A further DE is also transferring into this test centre at the beginning of November.

A new DE started in July at Chesterfield DTC and a further two new entrants are waiting to start their training course. DVSA also has a new entrant DE awaiting a training course for Worksop.

At Ashfield DTC a new DE started in August, with a further new entrant starting on 6 October. A further three new entrants are also awaiting to start their training course. DVSA has also recruited four new entrant DEs for Buxton DTC and they are delivering driving tests.

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