Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will maintain the current uplift in the apprenticeship incentive payment until September 2022.

The Spending Review has delivered the first increase to employer-led apprenticeships funding since the 2019/20 financial year, with funding for apprenticeships in England growing to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year.

On 4 October 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £500 million expansion of the Plan for Jobs. This included a further extension of the apprenticeship incentive payment to support employers of all sizes to offer apprenticeships.

Employers will be able to claim a £3,000 payment for any apprentice that has an employment start date between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022. They will be able to claim for their payment from January 2022. The extended payment makes it a great time for employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities and take advantage of existing flexibilities to train apprentices in a way that suits their needs.

We do not plan to further extend the incentives beyond 31 January 2022 but will continue to support employers with the cost of apprenticeship training. The government will pay 95% of apprentice training costs for employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, alongside offering the newly improved apprenticeship levy transfers system to help smaller employers fund their apprenticeship training.