Apprentices: Taxation

Department for Education written question – answered at on 19 March 2019.

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Photo of Lord Porter of Spalding Lord Porter of Spalding Conservative

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the expiry date of apprenticeship levy funds beyond April 2019 for employers who have been unable to use that levy against standards (1) which have only recently been approved, (2) which are still in development, and (3) for which they cannot find a local provider.

Photo of Lord Agnew of Oulton Lord Agnew of Oulton The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education

Levy-paying employers have up to 24 months from the point at which funds enter their account in which to spend the funds available to them. The 24 month expiry period is designed to give employers time to develop their apprenticeship programmes whilst encouraging employers to take action to create new apprenticeship opportunities. Funds will only expire in May 2019 if an employer has spent less on apprenticeship training and assessment in the past 2 years than the amount that went into their account in May 2017. We currently have no plans to extend the expiry period.

In early 2018, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education began its ‘Faster and Better’ programme to simplify aspects of the development of standards and to focus on reducing the time taken for standards to be approved. There are now over 400 apprenticeship standards available across all levels.

In the Budget 2018, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced £5 million of funding to support improved development of new standards and work to improve the training market. £1.5 million of funding was allocated in 2019/20 to a project focussing on how we can help employers and providers to improve and, where necessary, expand training provision.

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