Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of apprenticeships in (a) England, (b) London and (c) West Ham and Beckton constituency.

The department’s reformed growth and skills offer, which will have apprenticeships at its core, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, including through shorter duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, and fuelling innovation in businesses across the UK. Our reformed offer will be realigned with our industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, including construction, digital and technology and clean energy industries.

The department is supporting industry to use existing skills flexibilities to deliver apprenticeship training, including through the work of the National Housebuilding Council and Construction Industry Training Board in their creation of housebuilding training hubs to make 5,000 more construction industry apprenticeship places available per year.

The department has also begun work to develop new foundation apprenticeships, a training offer that will give more young people a foot in the door and supporting clear pathways and progression in work-based training and employment.

The department is also continuing outreach work in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and targeting young people through the Skills for Life campaign.