Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the period of time within which employers can use their apprenticeship levy funds from 24 to 36 months.

The department is committed to supporting more employers in all sectors to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. The department is committed to supporting more people to benefit from the sustained, high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.

Levy-payers can spend their levy funds on over 660 apprenticeship standards and the department is encouraging more flexible training models so employers can train their apprentices in the ways that work best for them.

The department considers that a period of 24 months before levy funds expire gives employers ample time to plan their apprenticeship programmes and create new apprenticeship opportunities.

The department’s reforms have raised the quality of apprenticeships, giving apprentices confidence that they will receive stretching and sustained training. We continue to support and safeguard apprenticeship quality through several measures, including minimum duration requirements for off-the-job training, provider accountability monitoring, the 12-month minimum period of training, and Ofsted inspection and monitoring visits.