To ask the Minister of Finance how local businesses benefit from the UK Apprenticeship Levy.

The levy is a policy introduced by the British Government and does not result in additional funding for the Executive. Although the Executive initially received a population share of funding raised through the Levy, this was offset by a Barnett consequential on the removal of existing funding for apprenticeships in England. There is also a significant additional cost to the public sector from paying the Levy.

Whilst employers here do not directly benefit from Levy funds, they can benefit from the range of apprenticeships and funding support through participation in the Department for the Economy’s ApprenticeshipNI and Higher Level Apprenticeship programmes.

These are available to all private sector employers regardless of whether or not they pay the levy and employers are encouraged to fully utilise the services provided by these programmes to support and grow their business.