Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of employment support programmes in reducing youth unemployment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timeline is for the (a) funding and (b) construction of the M54 and M6 link road; and what the split between public and private funding will be.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On the 8th July, the Transport Secretary announced that the scheme will be progressing, following on from the Spending Review in June. The delivery timetable for the scheme will be confirmed during the setting of the next Road Investment Strategy [RIS3], which begins in April 2026.
The scheme is publicly funded and will support the government’s mission to kickstart economic growth.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase apprenticeship opportunities within her Department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity.
A new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026. The Department for Work and Pensions has been supporting Cabinet Office with the development of this new scheme, sharing learning from our own school leaver Social Mobility Apprenticeship pilot, which has run successfully for the last two years, with our first cohort of school leavers all securing permanent employment within the Department.
In addition, in the Department for Work and Pensions we are developing an internal apprenticeship strategy, which will utilise the flexibility provided by the new Growth and Skills Levy to develop skills and support the future needs of the Department. Expansion of opportunities to recruit new apprentices are being explored, including continued use of our Social Mobility Apprenticeship schemes and direct recruitment of apprentices into entry level roles. We have recently run two Civil Service Jobs campaigns for Level 3 apprentices in Counter Fraud and Compliance across eight locations, with our latest campaign currently at sift stage and our first learners now starting on programme. Internally, we have also recently launched new apprenticeship opportunities for existing staff, including the Level 3 Data Technician apprenticeship designed to build digital and data skills within our workforce.
We are committed to Getting Britain Working, driving growth through employment. Our plan includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England who have commenced phased delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working white paper from May 2025. The Department is committed to offering high quality apprenticeships for all and working with professions to identify opportunities to fulfil business needs.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the level of apprenticeship opportunities within his Department.
Answered by Catherine West
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The 'Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship' (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
We are also working on aligning our apprenticeship approach with our capability framework. For example, we are exploring new apprenticeship opportunities to scale our approach and build internal capability on Data and AI.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities within her Department.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.
Answered by Janet Daby
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-government level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
The department also offers over 40 apprenticeship standards, from level 2 to level 7, as a development opportunity to all existing employees. Furthermore, most externally recruited entry grade vacancies are advertised as an apprenticeship. This ensures that we are also offering apprenticeships to external candidates, across most of our locations, as a route into the Civil Service.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in his Department.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all departments as part of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship, will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
In addition, Defra has a group apprenticeship strategy with a clear ambition for year-on-year growth in enrolments. There is a focus on areas where apprenticeships can support organisational priorities, career development for existing staff and addressing key skills gaps.
These include:
Following a successful pilot of a Data Protection and Information Governance cohort in 2023, plans for recruitment of a second cohort in early 2026 have begun.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, The ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.”
Since 2023, the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government has increased the proportion of its staff on apprenticeships from 2% to 5.1%. We are currently exploring how additional entry level programmes in digital, data and AI, including the TechTrack Level 4 Business Analyst apprenticeship, can be used to build the department’s capability in this vital area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various Departments, starting from January 2026.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes supporting the Government's commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, a new cross-government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
In addition, my department continues to offer apprenticeship opportunities each year. Given the size of the Attorney General’s Office (approximately 60 staff) this number can vary. We currently have one apprentice.