Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices are funded in the Wolverhampton local authority area through the apprenticeship levy; and how many apprenticeships in the Wolverhampton local authority area the Government expects will be funded by the apprenticeship levy, in financial year (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.

The number of apprenticeship starts is published as part of the further education and skills statistical first release. Apprenticeship starts broken down by geographical region and local authority are available in the further education data library:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/624428/apprenticeships-geography-data-tool-starts-v1.xlsm.

Currently, data on apprenticeship starts is only available reported to the end of April 2017, before the apprenticeship levy was introduced. The statistical first release will publish apprenticeship starts supported through the levy in the October release on 12 October 2017.

Apprenticeships are jobs and the volume and mix of apprenticeships will depend on the decisions employers make. The department has made estimates of the overall numbers of apprenticeships in future years but does not have breakdowns by local authorities.

Data on the number of accounts registered on the apprenticeship service and the number of commitments made have been published as part of the statistical first release collection:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.