Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, given that over £600 million of unused Apprenticeship Levy funding has been returned to the Treasury, when they intend to review that levy.

The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. The government does not currently have any plans to review the apprenticeship levy.

Whilst the department has seen some underspends in the apprenticeships budget in previous years, this will not always be the case. In the 2021/22 financial year the total spend on apprenticeships was £2,455 million against the budget of £2,466 million, meaning that 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget was spent. It is therefore important that the apprenticeships budget remains ring-fenced to support the demand from employers for high-quality apprenticeships training.

The government is increasing apprenticeship funding to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and is continuing to improve the apprenticeships system to support more employers and apprentices to benefit from apprenticeships. The department has created flexible training models, like flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships accessible for all sectors. We have also improved the transfer system to make it easier for levy paying employers to find other employers who wish to take on new apprentices with transferred funds. Additionally, we are working with training providers to simplify the apprenticeship system through our “You said, we did” programme.