Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of paying apprenticeships providers upon delivery of training.

Apprenticeship training providers are paid retrospectively for the training they have delivered. The department pays 80% of the cost of training in equal monthly instalments according to the planned duration of the apprenticeship. The remainder is paid on completion of the apprenticeship. The way that providers are paid is set out in the apprenticeship funding rules for main providers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928015/2021_Provider_Rules_Version_2_v1.0_FINAL__published_.pdf.

Like other apprenticeship policies, the department will continue to keep this under review, as we encourage greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training as set out by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Spending Review 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2020-documents.