I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to the petition P002432, “The regulation of the Hair, Barber and Beauty industries”, 20 May 2019, Official Report, Volume 660, Column 6P.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided to the petition P002432, “The regulation of the Hair, Barber and Beauty industries”, 20 May 2019, Official Report, Volume 660, Column 6P.

The government has reformed apprenticeships to include new high-quality apprenticeship standards that meet the needs of employers across all industries.

There are 118 Engineering and Manufacturing standards available for employers in the shipbuilding industry to choose from, and a total of 507 standards available across a wide range of sectors from Business and Administration, to Health and Science.

The Engineering Technician standard at Level 3 has been developed by employers, including employers in the defence industry such as BAE Systems, Babcock and the Royal Navy. This standard includes the following maritime defence pathways: Maritime Electrical Fitter, Maritime Mechanical Fitter, Maritime Fabricator, and Maritime Pipeworker. More detail on the standard can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s website at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/engineering-technician/.

Employers in all sectors across England, including the shipping and offshore energy sectors, can use their apprenticeship levy funds to invest in these new high-quality apprenticeship standards, unlocking the productivity benefits associated with employing apprentices.

In the 2019-20 financial year, the funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion, which is double what we spent in 2010-11.

We are working with all sectors as they produce their skills deals and we encourage them to consider the opportunities and apprenticeships they offer, by building them into their plans.

The National Apprenticeship Service is supporting employers to develop their apprenticeship programmes. More information on apprenticeships is available at: https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/.

Assessors from any organisation undertaking end-point assessment must be on the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s register of end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs). If an organisation can demonstrate their capability and capacity to deliver, and are not involved in the on-programme delivery of the standard either as a training provider or employer, they are eligible to apply to be an EPAO.

All end-point assessments are subject to external quality assurance by an independent external body to ensure the consistency of high-quality assessments and maintained standards. Regulators such as Ofqual, provide external quality assurance.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

I am aware that customers who are unable to access cheaper mortgage deals are in a difficult and stressful situation. Taking action to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that have prevented some customers from switching has been a priority for me and so I welcome the changes the FCA have made to their mortgage lending rules.

This change in the FCA’s rules should allow customers to switch to a new lender as long as they meet the lender’s risk appetite. This is determined by the lender and will take into account the circumstances of individual customers, which may include being up to date with their payments; not having significant other debt; and not being in negative equity.

Due to the uncertainty of lender’s risk appetites or the number of consumers who will choose to use the new switching opportunities, it is impossible to know precisely how many mortgage prisoners will be helped by the rule change until lenders are able to report progress to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Part of the FCA’s action to support mortgage prisoners is ensuring that borrowers, whose mortgage is currently held by an unregulated entity, are proactively contacted about this rule change. Inactive lenders and administrators acting for unregulated entities are now required to implement a communication strategy for relevant customers to inform them of the rule change within the next 10 months.

The FCA ran a consultation on the rule changes and thoroughly considered representations from various interested parties before implementing the changes in October. Most recently, I have met with Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, where we agreed to continue to collaborate and engage to support mortgage prisoners moving forward. In addition, I have met specifically with MPs for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on mortgage prisoners and numerous other MPs who, representing their constituents, have wished to discuss mortgage policy.

I am aware that customers who are unable to access cheaper mortgage deals are in a difficult and stressful situation. Taking action to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that have prevented some customers from switching has been a priority for me and so I welcome the changes the FCA have made to their mortgage lending rules.

This change in the FCA’s rules should allow customers to switch to a new lender as long as they meet the lender’s risk appetite. This is determined by the lender and will take into account the circumstances of individual customers, which may include being up to date with their payments; not having significant other debt; and not being in negative equity.

Due to the uncertainty of lender’s risk appetites or the number of consumers who will choose to use the new switching opportunities, it is impossible to know precisely how many mortgage prisoners will be helped by the rule change until lenders are able to report progress to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Part of the FCA’s action to support mortgage prisoners is ensuring that borrowers, whose mortgage is currently held by an unregulated entity, are proactively contacted about this rule change. Inactive lenders and administrators acting for unregulated entities are now required to implement a communication strategy for relevant customers to inform them of the rule change within the next 10 months.

The FCA ran a consultation on the rule changes and thoroughly considered representations from various interested parties before implementing the changes in October. Most recently, I have met with Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, where we agreed to continue to collaborate and engage to support mortgage prisoners moving forward. In addition, I have met specifically with MPs for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on mortgage prisoners and numerous other MPs who, representing their constituents, have wished to discuss mortgage policy.

I am aware that customers who are unable to access cheaper mortgage deals are in a difficult and stressful situation. Taking action to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that have prevented some customers from switching has been a priority for me and so I welcome the changes the FCA have made to their mortgage lending rules.

This change in the FCA’s rules should allow customers to switch to a new lender as long as they meet the lender’s risk appetite. This is determined by the lender and will take into account the circumstances of individual customers, which may include being up to date with their payments; not having significant other debt; and not being in negative equity.

Due to the uncertainty of lender’s risk appetites or the number of consumers who will choose to use the new switching opportunities, it is impossible to know precisely how many mortgage prisoners will be helped by the rule change until lenders are able to report progress to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Part of the FCA’s action to support mortgage prisoners is ensuring that borrowers, whose mortgage is currently held by an unregulated entity, are proactively contacted about this rule change. Inactive lenders and administrators acting for unregulated entities are now required to implement a communication strategy for relevant customers to inform them of the rule change within the next 10 months.

The FCA ran a consultation on the rule changes and thoroughly considered representations from various interested parties before implementing the changes in October. Most recently, I have met with Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA, where we agreed to continue to collaborate and engage to support mortgage prisoners moving forward. In addition, I have met specifically with MPs for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on mortgage prisoners and numerous other MPs who, representing their constituents, have wished to discuss mortgage policy.

Our reforms to apprenticeships have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships are and the long-term opportunities they provide for people of all ages and backgrounds.

We publish data on apprenticeship starts by demographic on a quarterly basis. The most recent data can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/815288/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-detailed-demographic_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx.

The table below shows an extract of apprenticeships starts data by the ages requested from the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic years, as well as data for quarter 1 to 3 of the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years. Full data for the 2018/19 academic year will be published on 28 November at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-official-statistics.

There have been 311,200 apprenticeship starts reported in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year, a 7.1% rise compared to the same period in the 2017/18 academic year. In parallel, we continue to see a reduction in the number of level 2 starts during the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year, down 10% compared to the same point the previous year. We know that 16-18 year olds in particular are more likely to undertake a level 2 apprenticeship and therefore be affected by this reduction.

This change in level 2 starts has largely occurred where apprenticeships were struggling to meet the minimum quality standards required by our reforms. We are replacing old-style frameworks, which apprentices and employers told us were not providing the skills they needed, with new employer-designed standards. Apprenticeships are intended to take people to a point of full competence in their chosen occupation. It is therefore possible for a young person with limited experience to achieve a level 3 apprenticeship. In 2018/19 we have seen growth in level 3 Engineering starts in particular for 16 ,17 and 18 year olds. Overall, we continue to see strong take up of standards with 63% of starts so far in 2018/19 on high-quality standards, compared to 44% in 2017/18.

Levels of young people not in education, training or employment are at a record low and apprenticeships play an important role in getting young people into work. We will continue to monitor the impact of our apprenticeship reforms on 16-18 year olds.

We have not had any discussions with representatives from the Local Government Association on the adequacy of health and safety registration procedures in relation to hair salons.

We are committed to supporting employers to engage with apprenticeships to help invest in the long-term skills needs of their business. We have already seen employers making use of transfers to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains, or to meet local skills needs. Since April 2018 there have been 1,020 transferred commitments where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts had been approved. Of these transferred commitments, 780 have so far resulted in apprenticeship starts.

We have taken a number of steps to make it easier for levy-paying employers to transfer funds to other employers. In response to employer feedback, in April 2019 we raised the cap on transfers to 25% of the annual value of funds entering levy-payers’ apprenticeship service accounts. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.

Transfers give levy-paying employers more options in how they use their levy funds, as well as creating apprenticeship opportunities for organisations who may have previously felt that employing an apprentice was beyond their reach. We are pleased to see that levy payers with uncommitted funds are increasingly using transfers to support apprenticeship starts in non-levy paying employers.

We are committed to ensuring that our reforms to apprenticeships work for smaller employers and their providers, such as group training associations (GTAs).

GTAs are important members of the training provider market, working for groups of employers to provide high quality training. We ran a procurement exercise to secure high-quality training to support small and medium-sized employers from January 2018 to April 2019. This was a highly competitive exercise attracting interest from a wide range of training providers and we recognise that not all providers were successful in the competition. The contracts we awarded have been subsequently extended to April 2020, supported by over £700 million funding for new starts and existing apprentices.

In addition to these contracts, the smaller employers are also able to receive transfers from levy-paying employers, allowing GTAs access to levy-funded training. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18-year-olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.

Earlier this year, we confirmed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, would soon be able to access the benefits of using the award-winning apprenticeship service (AS). The AS, already in use by large levy paying employers, will give SMEs greater control over choosing their apprenticeships, a greater range of training providers to engage with, and a new route to access apprenticeship funding.

We announced at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference on 29 October 2019 that from January we will begin to transition SMEs onto the service, and will be supporting up to an additional 5,000 starts per month from January to March 2020 for employers that don’t pay the levy. We will be issuing more detail on the transition arrangements from November and throughout 2020.

Officials meet regularly with GTA England to discuss training provision, including in respect of apprenticeships. We also work closely with the AELP, the Learning and Work Institute, and the Association of Colleges to consider a range of sectoral issues and to ensure that our apprenticeships reforms continue to work for employers of all sizes, including charities.

We are committed to ensuring that our reforms to apprenticeships work for smaller employers and their providers, such as group training associations (GTAs).

GTAs are important members of the training provider market, working for groups of employers to provide high quality training. We ran a procurement exercise to secure high-quality training to support small and medium-sized employers from January 2018 to April 2019. This was a highly competitive exercise attracting interest from a wide range of training providers and we recognise that not all providers were successful in the competition. The contracts we awarded have been subsequently extended to April 2020, supported by over £700 million funding for new starts and existing apprentices.

In addition to these contracts, the smaller employers are also able to receive transfers from levy-paying employers, allowing GTAs access to levy-funded training. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18-year-olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.

Earlier this year, we confirmed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, would soon be able to access the benefits of using the award-winning apprenticeship service (AS). The AS, already in use by large levy paying employers, will give SMEs greater control over choosing their apprenticeships, a greater range of training providers to engage with, and a new route to access apprenticeship funding.

We announced at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) conference on 29 October 2019 that from January we will begin to transition SMEs onto the service, and will be supporting up to an additional 5,000 starts per month from January to March 2020 for employers that don’t pay the levy. We will be issuing more detail on the transition arrangements from November and throughout 2020.

Officials meet regularly with GTA England to discuss training provision, including in respect of apprenticeships. We also work closely with the AELP, the Learning and Work Institute, and the Association of Colleges to consider a range of sectoral issues and to ensure that our apprenticeships reforms continue to work for employers of all sizes, including charities.

Data on apprenticeship starts, completions, training providers and age of apprentices is not available for the maritime industry sector specifically.

Due to the methodology behind these experimental statistics, data has not been published below the broad industry sector level.

The most recent statistics on apprenticeships starts by broad industry sector cover the academic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 and are published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.

This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.

Data on apprenticeship starts, completions, training providers and age of apprentices is not available for the maritime industry sector specifically.

Due to the methodology behind these experimental statistics, data has not been published below the broad industry sector level.

The most recent statistics on apprenticeships starts by broad industry sector cover the academic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 and are published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.

Data on apprenticeship starts, completions, training providers and age of apprentices is not available for the maritime industry sector specifically.

Due to the methodology behind these experimental statistics, data has not been published below the broad industry sector level.

The most recent statistics on apprenticeships starts by broad industry sector cover the academic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 and are published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.