Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of apprenticeship levy receipts were spent on apprenticeship training over the last 5 years.

The UK wide apprenticeship levy is not legally hypothecated and, as such, revenues from the levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund and not directly allocated to apprenticeships.

HM Treasury separately sets the apprenticeship budget at each Spending Review. When setting the budget, the Government considers its wider investment in skills, ensuring businesses can benefit from a highly skilled workforce. We are investing over £18 billion a year in skills and post-16 education, including record investment in apprenticeships.

I refer the Hon. Member to the receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy, published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax Receipts and National Insurance Contribution publication, which sets this out here.

The final budget position of the Growth and Skills Levy budget for the last 5 financial years in England is:

While the levy is UK-wide, apprenticeship policy and spending are devolved. Devolved governments receive Barnett consequentials on English spending through the Barnett formula, and decide how to allocate them, including to skills programmes.