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Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated). It was answered on Tuesday, 13 January 2026.

Youth Guarantee Scheme: Evaluation

Question

My Lords, I declare my interest as chairman of Make UK, which has 26,000 manufacturing companies that belong to it and is a major apprenticeship provider. As the Minister is very aware, because we have spoken to her on the subject, currently, apprenticeships in manufacturing are declining across the UK because of the big gap between the money that the apprenticeship levy provides and the actual cost of it, as well as rising employment costs. Given that the industrial strategy is committed to reversing this trend and increasing the funding bands, when will the Government follow through on their commitment, which is really needed for the youth guarantee scheme to be a success?

Answer

The noble Lord is right that I have been able to speak to Make UK about the important role of apprenticeships in delivering engineering skills for young and older people. I understand the concerns raised about the funding rates for engineering apprenticeships. That is why, as I said when I met Make UK, we will continue to monitor that in order

to ensure that they meet the costs of training. We will continue to find other ways to encourage people on to apprenticeships, such as removing some of the bureaucracy associated with them, supporting the reform of end-point assessment, and removing the requirement for separate maths and English qualifications for adults.

Secondary information

Type
Oral question
Reference
851 c1595 
Session
2024-26
Oral question type
Supplementary
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Training Young people Labour market Youth guarantee
Link
View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk