To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.

DCMS is committed to achieving the public sector apprenticeship target. We offer apprenticeships to both existing staff and as part of the hiring process for suitable roles. We offer a range of apprenticeship standards to existing staff which align with the types of role in the department. We promote apprenticeships as a key pillar of our learning and development strategy, building professional and functional capability and using a variety of means to engage staff and encourage participation. We work closely with recruitment teams both in DCMS and across the Civil Service and with learning providers to recruit diverse and high quality apprentices.

There have been a number of challenges to meeting the public sector apprenticeship target, including planning for and resourcing EU Exit and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both of these have impacted our apprenticeship recruitment over the past 12 months.