Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money his Department estimates is dormant in apprenticeship levy accounts.

Employers who pay the apprenticeship levy are able to create an apprenticeship service account to access levy funds, which will be held for 2 years after entering their account. We apply a 24-month expiry period on funds after they enter an account to encourage employers to plan and spend funds in good time. Any unspent funds from apprenticeship service accounts after the 24-month expiry period will be used to pay for apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers. We do not therefore consider funds held in apprenticeships service accounts to be ‘dormant’.

Spending on the apprenticeship programme is demand-led. Employers choose which apprenticeships they offer and at what level, how many apprenticeships to offer and when to offer them in order to meet their current and future skills needs. We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds in their accounts. However, any unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeship learners and levy-paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training with employers that do not pay the levy.