Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on the budgets of non-maintained childcare and early education providers.

The Apprenticeship Levy will be paid by all UK employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million and is charged at 0.5% of an employer’s annual pay bill.

The Apprenticeship Levy supports our commitment to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. Employers in England who pay the levy will have an apprenticeship account. This is an online service that enables levy-paying employers to receive levy funds to spend on apprenticeships, manage their apprentices and pay their training provider.

It is for individual employers to calculate the impact of levy payments on their budgets.

No employer that pays the levy will lose out if they take advantage of the opportunity to re-invest the money in high quality apprenticeship training.

Guidance for employers on paying the levy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-apprenticeship-levy.