Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new Apprenticeship Levy on the number of apprenticeship start-ups from September 2016.

The Department does not produce forecasts for apprenticeship starts. Apprenticeships are paid jobs and their availability is dependent on employers offering opportunities and hiring apprentices.

The levy will fund a step-change in apprenticeship numbers and quality – delivering on our commitment to 3 million new apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. It will put apprenticeship funding on a sustainable footing and improve the technical and professional skills of the workforce.

It will encourage employers to invest in their apprentices and take on more. Employers in England who pay the levy and are committed to apprenticeships training will be able to get out more than they pay in to the levy through a top-up of additional funding to their digital accounts. The government will apply a 10% top-up to monthly funds entering levy paying employers digital accounts, for apprenticeship training in England, from April 2017. Apprentices who have been accepted on to an apprenticeship before April 2017 will be funded for the full term of the apprenticeship under the terms and conditions that were in place at the time their apprenticeship started.