Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of Apprenticeship Levy (a) funding and (b) spending for 2018-19.

The Department for Education has a ring-fenced apprenticeship budget which has been set regardless of how much levy receipts are each year. This budget was set at £2.23 billion for the 2018-19 financial year. It is used to fund new apprenticeship starts in levy and non-levy paying employers and to cover the ongoing training costs of apprentices that are already in training.

Spending on the apprenticeship programme is demand led - employers choose which apprenticeships they offer and at what level, how many and when, to meet their current and future skills needs.

We will publish details on aggregate apprenticeship spending in our departmental end of year accounts as part of our annual financial reporting cycle.