Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the £1,500 incentive for employers hiring a new apprentice aged 25 and over on the number of apprentices hired since 1 August 2020.

Apprenticeships will be more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow. To help employers offer new apprenticeships, they are now able to claim £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire under the age of 25 before 31 January 2021, and £1,500 for new apprentices aged 25 and over. The new payment means it is a great time for employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities and take advantage of existing flexibilities to train their apprentices in a way that suits their needs.

Employers have been able to register to claim the incentive since 1 September. The first payment is made 90 days from the apprentice’s start date and as such no payments have yet been made. We are monitoring the take-up of the new payments and will assess their impact on apprenticeship starts to ensure it is helping employers to meet their skills needs.