Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the barriers preventing NHS organisations from being able to fully utilise their Apprenticeship Levy funds; and if he will make a statement.

The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are working together, along with employers and Health Education England (HEE), to make sure that the NHS is fully supported to recruit the apprentices that they need to deliver high quality care.

I met my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Health, in January 2019, where we had a constructive discussion about the ways in which we are jointly supporting the NHS. The detailed steps that we have taken together are set out in the government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry on nurse degree apprenticeships, which was published in March 2019.

We are already seeing the positive impact that apprenticeships can make in the NHS to workforce recruitment and retention. For example, in the last financial year, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust employed nearly 600 Level 2 to 7 apprentices, across 29 programmes and a variety of disciplines, ranging from Business Administration to Facilities Management to Dental Nursing. The Trust has used the apprenticeship levy to build interest across the organisation and attract employees into rewarding apprenticeship roles.

In addition, Registered Nurse degree apprenticeship and Nursing Associate starts in the first half of 2018/19 are 77% and 30% higher respectively than the starts reported in the entire 2017/18 year.

Both departments continue to collaborate and work closely with employers and our delivery partners to share best practice and support a wide programme of activities to help NHS employers to get the most from our apprenticeship reforms.