Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of how many and what proportion of businesses have used their apprenticeship service account to transfer unused levy funds to SMEs in each of the last three years.

Transfers are a way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in any other business, including smaller employers, flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities to help meet local or sector-specific needs.

Levy-paying employers have been able to transfer 25% of their annual funds since April 2019, when this was increased from 10%, and have been able to use an online service since 2021 to make the process quicker and simpler. Since September 2021, over 500 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £33 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes.

The table below shows the number and proportion of levy-paying employers that have used their apprenticeship service accounts to transfer funds to non-levy paying employers in each of the last three financial years. The department does not hold transfer data specific for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but can confirm that SMEs represent most non-levy employers on the apprenticeship service.

When reviewing these figures, it is important to note that only unused funds can be transferred. Some employers make full use of their levy funds and so have no funds to transfer.