Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to encourage small and medium businesses to take up technical education opportunities; and if she will take steps to consult with those businesses on shaping the curriculum.

The department continues to support small and medium businesses to benefit from a range of technical education opportunities including apprenticeships, T Level industry placements, Higher Technical Qualifications, and Skills Bootcamps.

For example, on T Levels we are actively engaging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through our T Level Ambassador network and raising awareness and support of industry placements, including a new Employer Support Fund to help SMEs meet delivery costs, and on apprenticeships we pay full training costs for non-levy paying employers for young apprentices under the age of 22 and provide £1000 payments to employers who take on young apprentices under the age of 19.

Employers are playing a more strategic role in the skills system, through working with providers, including through local skills improvement plans where they can help shape local curriculum offers and become more actively involved in the planning, design and delivery of further education provision.

Skills England will work with employers to identify and fill skills gaps and build the highly trained workforce that employers need, delivering the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.