Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing for workplace learning; and what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of that support.

There are a number of specific schemes through which the Government is providing support for workplace learning, including the following:

The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) Kickstart Scheme Programme: This provides fully funded six-month job placements for 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. Employers participating in the scheme are required to ensure that a young person receives training and support that will enable the young people to become more employable. Before their application is accepted, any employer has to demonstrate how their job placement will help the young person develop their skills and long term employability. Over 2,000 young jobseekers have started in Kickstart jobs with more starting every week.

DWP’s Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs): In the ‘Plan for Jobs’, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extra 32,000 SWAP participant starts in 2020/21, providing £17m for the Department for Education (DfE) to triple the number of associated vocational training placements. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions also pledged to increase further the number of people taking part in 2021/22. SWAPs offer unemployed benefit claimants in England and Scotland a short period of training, work experience and a guaranteed interview for a live job vacancy to help them move into work. Data up to 6^th December 2020 shows that there have been a total of 44,130 starts to a Sector-based work academy programme.

Apprenticeships: These are jobs, created by employers, which offer high-quality on and off-the-job training. Employers can choose between nearly 600 apprenticeship standards that have been designed by employers to deliver the skills they need. To help employers offer new apprenticeships, as part of government’s Plan for Jobs, they are now able to claim up to £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire until 31 March 2021. DfE are also working on the largest-ever expansion of traineeships and have introduced £1000 incentive payments for employers who offer traineeship work placements to support this.

Industry placements & T levels: Industry placements with an employer are also a key element of T levels which were introduced last September. T Levels offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement.

Additional Measures: In addition, the Government is investing £2.5bn (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) in the National Skills Fund. This is a significant investment and has the potential to deliver new opportunities to generations of adults who may have been previously left behind. This includes funding for the recently launched Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps have the potential to transform the skills landscape for adults and employers. The latest figures for apprenticeships and traineeships starts can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships/2020-21.