Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2016 to Question 46284, on apprentices, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the new standards are developed in areas where skills shortages exist in the economy.

Employers are already designing high-quality apprenticeships across a range of occupations to meet their skills needs. More than 1,400 employers are involved with 260 new apprenticeships standards already published and more than 180 are in development.

Employers are in the best position to determine the skills they need and we will work with them as the Apprenticeship Levy is introduced, and as the wider approach to the Industrial Strategy is developed, to ensure their needs are met and more opportunities are created for apprentices of all ages and from all backgrounds.