To ask the Minister for the Economy what mechanism his Department has to ensure the Personal Training Plan payment follows the student and not the training provider.

Contracted training suppliers are required to develop an individualised Personal Training Plan for each participant on my Department’s ApprenticeshipsNI and Training for Success programmes.

To allow time for individual assessment, training suppliers must complete a Personal Training Plan within 12 weeks of the participant’s training start date. Payment is then made directly to the training supplier.

In the case of Training for Success, if a participant moves to a new training supplier then the new training supplier may be paid for the completion of a new Personal Training Plan. This payment recognises the need for a thorough individual re-assessment to be completed - with the potential for the young person to change their area of vocational training.

In the case of the ApprenticeshipsNI programme, only one Personal Training Plan payment is made. In the event of a participant changing training supplier the original Personal Training Plan and all related records, outlining progress and achievement to date, are transferred to the new supplier. In contrast to Training for Success, as the apprentice is employed, there should be no change to the vocational area of study.