Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to provide grants to haulage businesses to pay for their drivers to train for Category C licences instead of introducing apprenticeships in the sector.

In 2016 the road haulage industry developed a Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeship standard that includes the acquisition of a Category C licence and attracted £5,000 in apprenticeship levy funding.

This will be replaced in August with an apprenticeship for a Category C+E licence (for which the Category C licence is a pre-requisite) which will attract £7,000 in funding.

This decision to change to a Category C+E apprenticeship was made in collaboration with industry, based on the greater need for articulated lorry drivers.