Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of land-based engineers in the farming and engineering sectors following the withdrawal of the land-based engineering level 2 service engineer apprenticeship from the Government's approved list of apprenticeships.

Government currently funds both a level 2 apprenticeship framework and a level 2 apprenticeship standard in land-based engineering. We announced in January 2018 that we will not be withdrawing any further apprenticeship frameworks until 2020.

The Institute for Apprenticeships is responsible for the development and approval of apprenticeship standards.

The level 2 land-based service engineer apprenticeship standard has not been withdrawn from the list of apprenticeship standards. It was reviewed and approved for delivery in February 2018.

Information about the standard is on the Institute for Apprenticeships’ website: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/land-based-service-engineer/.