Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) organisations delivering commercial flooring apprenticeships and (b) other independent specialist training providers can access funding and opportunities at parity with large further education colleges delivering for trades.

The funding band of each apprenticeship standard sets out the maximum amount that the government will contribute to the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment. This is irrespective of the type or size of funding provider.

New training providers can enter the apprenticeship training market under one of the three entry routes in place: where there is a legitimate gap in provision that is generated by unmet employer demand, where a levy paying employer wants to become an employer-provider to train its own workforce, or where the provider is in an area we want to grow or where we identify a capacity issue.