Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) progress she has made and (b) steps she plans to take with the Secretary of State for Transport on the HGV skills bootcamp programme.

Skills Bootcamps are an important offer in the skills landscape, supporting the development of crucial skills such as HGV driving.

Published statistics show that across the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years, there were 10,545 starts on HGV Skills Bootcamps, with 6,500 completions and almost 5,000 positive employment outcomes representing new jobs, promotions or increased responsibilities.

In line with our commitment to devolution, we will fund Skills Bootcamps through funding Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas directly, supporting the government’s commitment to empower local leaders to have greater control of skills development, alongside an increased role in supporting people into work.

The department continues to support learners and employers in the HGV sector to benefit from a range of high quality skills training, including through apprenticeships such as the Urban Driver and Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) driver C + E apprenticeship standards.