Apprentices: Taxation

(asked on 1st May 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the implications are for his policies on the apprenticeship levy of the recommendations in the April 2018 EEF report, A levy price to pay? The apprenticeship levy one year on; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Anne Milton Portrait
Anne Milton
This question was answered on 8th May 2018

The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms - it means there is long-term investment in apprenticeship training so that employers get the skills they need. Nearly 60 per cent of people starting on the new apprenticeship standards are levy supported, showing that levy payers are working well with the new system.

I recently met with EEF as part of a roundtable meeting to discuss how apprenticeships are working in the engineering and manufacturing sectors. We will continue to work closely with employers to support them to take advantage of the levy, and wider funding and quality reforms, to invest in the long-term skills needs of their business.

We have recently seen an increase in the number of people starting on higher level apprenticeships, such as engineering and law, and on our new quality apprenticeship standards. These new apprenticeships are designed by employers themselves to meet their needs, and are within a wide range of industries. Higher quality training leads to increased productivity; so it is positive news that over 250 of the new standards have already been approved.

Our reforms to the apprenticeship system are about increasing the number of quality apprenticeships in this country and creating the long-term investment in skills training that British businesses need to grow.

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