Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of how many and what proportion of businesses have used their apprenticeship service account to transfer unused levy funds to SMEs in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Transfers are a way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in any other business, including smaller employers, flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities to help meet local or sector-specific needs.
Levy-paying employers have been able to transfer 25% of their annual funds since April 2019, when this was increased from 10%, and have been able to use an online service since 2021 to make the process quicker and simpler. Since September 2021, over 500 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £33 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes.
The table below shows the number and proportion of levy-paying employers that have used their apprenticeship service accounts to transfer funds to non-levy paying employers in each of the last three financial years. The department does not hold transfer data specific for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but can confirm that SMEs represent most non-levy employers on the apprenticeship service.
Financial Year | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Number of levy paying employers that have transferred funds to non-levy employers. | 390 | 520 | 580 |
Proportion of levy paying employers that have transferred funds to non-levy employers. | 2.0% | 2.5% | 2.7% |
When reviewing these figures, it is important to note that only unused funds can be transferred. Some employers make full use of their levy funds and so have no funds to transfer.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the interest earned on apprenticeship levy funds in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury is not able to make estimates of whether interest is earned on apprenticeship levy funds. The Apprenticeship Levy is not legally hypothecated, so revenues from the levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue raised from the apprenticeship levy in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax and NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
Please see below for a table of the estimated number of employers paying the Apprenticeship Levy over the last three years:
Tax Year | Number of Employers |
2020 to 2021 | 30,000 |
2021 to 2022 | 31,500 |
2022 to 2023 | 34,200 |
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have paid the apprenticeship levy in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax and NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
Please see below for a table of the estimated number of employers paying the Apprenticeship Levy over the last three years:
Tax Year | Number of Employers |
2020 to 2021 | 30,000 |
2021 to 2022 | 31,500 |
2022 to 2023 | 34,200 |
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total revenue raised via the apprenticeship levy from businesses in Scotland for each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Reliable estimates of the revenue raised from businesses in Scotland from the apprenticeship levy are not available as any estimate would need to be based on where employers are registered, and therefore would not necessarily reflect where the liabilities are accrued or where employees are based. Any estimate would not include businesses registered in Wales, Northern Ireland, or England, who have a presence and pay employees in Scotland.
Mentions:
1: Hoy, Craig (Con - South Scotland) Recently, the Parliament held a reception for young Scottish apprentices who are working at the cutting - Speech Link
2: Thomson, Michelle (SNP - Falkirk East) was pointed out in an ActionAid report from some years ago—I think that it was in 2016—international taxation - Speech Link
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing employers in (a) commercial laundries and (b) other sectors to use 25% of their apprenticeship levy funds for non-apprenticeship training.
Answered by Robert Halfon
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 November 2023 to Question 614.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) sectors and (b) employers were (i) most and (ii) least likely to utilise the funds provided through the apprenticeship levy in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes to boost the skills of their workforces. As the apprenticeship levy is UK-wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.
Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government. The department does not record industry, sector or organisation type when levy-paying employers register an apprenticeship service account. For this reason, data which shows which sectors were most or least likely to spend their funds cannot be provided. The department does hold information relating to individual employer accounts but it would not be appropriate to disclose this information without consulting with employers.
Employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer up to 25% of their funds to other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses who do not pay the levy. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.
The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to draw on for 24 months before they expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. The table attached shows the total funds that expired from levy-paying employers apprenticeship service accounts in each month since May 2019. The decline in levy expiry value for October 2021 was due to a delay transferring levy into employer accounts. As a result, employers were granted an additional month to spend those funds, to ensure that the 24-month window to spend funds was maintained.
The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships in England for employers of all sizes. As such, expired funds from employers’ accounts do not represent funding that is lost to the system. Rather, the department directs this funding to supporting apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to English and mathematics training for apprentices and to additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many apprenticeship starts at level 6 were for legal, finance and accounting in 2021–22 and 2022–23; how many of these apprentices were employed in levy-paying organisations; and how many there were in each region.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Level 6 Apprenticeship starts in the legal, finance and accounting route in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years are shown in the tables below, along with breakdowns by region, and where starts were supported by apprenticeship service account levy funds.
Level 6 Apprenticeship starts in the legal, finance and accounting route:
2021/22 | 2022/23 |
960 | 900 |
Of which supported by Apprenticeship service account levy funds:
2021/22 | 2022/23 |
890 | 850 |
Of which by region:
Region | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
East Midlands | 30 | 50 |
East of England | 140 | 130 |
London | 270 | 300 |
North East | 30 | 10 |
North West | 90 | 90 |
South East | 130 | 120 |
South West | 90 | 50 |
West Midlands | 80 | 70 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 70 | 50 |
Outside of England and unknown | 40 | 30 |
Notes for tables:
(1) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.
(2) Data source is the individualised Learner Record.
(3) Geography is based upon the home postcode of the learner. Where the postcode is outside of England or not known it is included in the 'Outside of England and unknown' category.
(4) Geographies are taken from the National Statistics Postcode Lookup.
(5) Please see the 'Further education and skills statistics: methodology' document for more information about how 'supported by Apprenticeship service account levy funds' is derived.
(6) Route information is based on the latest information held on the IfATE 'Search the apprenticeships' page at the point of publication.
Asked by: Baroness Blower (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy-paying employers have spent more than half the funds in their apprenticeship levy account, for each of the past five financial years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
UK employers with an annual pay bill above £3 million pay the apprenticeship levy, which is collected by HM Revenue & Customs. The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes build their workforces. As the apprenticeships levy is UK wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.
In England, employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer their funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on is used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.
Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government.
The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts does not represent the total spend on apprenticeships for levy-paying empoyers and is not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships for employers of all sizes. On average, 98% of the apprenticeships budget has been spent in the last two financial years.
The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers that have spent more than 50% of the funds declared in their apprenticeship service accounts, including the 10% top-up from the government, in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.
FY | Number of employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds | Percentage of total employers who spent more than 50% of levy funds |
2018/19 | 4,210 | 27% |
2019/20 | 6,000 | 36% |
2020/21 | 6,080 | 35% |
2021/22 | 6,580 | 35% |
2022/23 | 6,970 | 35% |
The department is supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and have improved the transfer system to make it easier to find other employers who wish to take on apprentices with transferred funds. In April 2019, the department increased the transfer allowance from 10% to 25%, so levy-paying employers could transfer more of their annual funds to support any employer. Since September 2021, over 500 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £33 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. The table below shows the number of levy-paying employers who spent all of their transfer allowance in each financial year from 2018/19 to 2022/23.
FY (of allowance calculation) | Employers who used all their transfer allowance | Percentage of total employers who used all their transfer allowance |
2018/19 | 70 | 0.4% |
2019/20 | 170 | 1.0% |
2020/21 | 280 | 1.6% |
2021/22 | 370 | 2.0% |
2022/23 | 270 | 1.4% |
With regard to allowing levy-paying employers to use their funds on non-apprenticeship training schemes and courses, I refer the noble lady to the answer of 10 November 2023 to Question 614.