Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what levels of apprenticeships are offered by his Department; and how many apprenticeship starts there were at each level in each of the last three years.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport offers apprenticeships at all levels for each standard through our external suppliers, Babington Group and Civil Service Learning. The levels and number of apprenticeship starts are broken down by financial year in the tables below:

15/16

16/17

17/18

The Department is committed to a target of 2.3% 1,300 which equates to approximately 30 apprentices for the 2018/2019 financial period. The target will remain the same for 2019/2020. We are taking the following actions to ensure we meet this target:

• We have updated our strategic approach to apprenticeships and will be investing in proactive “marketing” of the offer to shift perceptions.
• We have developed a “convert to apprenticeship” programme for employees as part of our development offer for existing staff.
• We have revised the approach to resourcing so that specific appointments will be targeted to undertake an apprenticeship in their role.
• We have appointed a new provider who will support us to deliver leadership and management apprenticeships