Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Lifelong Learning and Skills Development

Monday 1 November 2021 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 4 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Claire Coutinho supports the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee and highlights the need for awareness and accessibility of the programme.
  • The Secretary of State announces a 2.5 billion investment in the national skills fund and the extension of eligibility for free level 3 courses.
  • The Secretary of State emphasizes the importance of T-levels, aiming to make them as well-known as A-levels by the end of the Parliament.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Claire Coutinho Con East Surrey
Education Employment
Context

The MP noted her constituents' need for level 3 qualifications. She referenced the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee.

Question

I am concerned about a third of my constituents in East Surrey not having a level 3 qualification, so I am hugely supportive of the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee. Does the Secretary of State agree that the success of this programme will rely on our ability to let people know it is available and can he set out some steps on how he is ensuring that the right people know about it?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

We need to invest in adult skills and training. The lifetime skills guarantee gives adults in colleges like East Surrey College the opportunity to develop the skills they need throughout life. We have to make this famous, and we can do that through the work of everybody in this House taking the message out to their constituents.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not directly address the specific ask about steps on how he is ensuring people know about it.

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Q2 Peter Gibson
Education
Context

The MP welcomed the Secretary of State to his place and referenced last week's investment in education catch-up.

Question

I welcome the Secretary of State to his place. Following last week's phenomenal investment in education catch-up, does he agree that the catch-up funds along with the new T-levels being offered at Darlington College will be vital as we create new high-skilled, high-wage technical jobs up and down the country?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

I am delighted that Darlington College will offer T-levels in education and childcare and in engineering and manufacturing from next year. If we can make T-levels as famous as A-levels by the end of this Parliament, Mr Speaker, you and I will have done something really great. I am grateful for the efforts of Darlington College to help learners catch up with their education following the pandemic.

Answered
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Q3 Claire Coutinho Con East Surrey
Education
Context

The MP referenced the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee and her support for it.

Question

About a third of my constituents in East Surrey do not have a level 3 qualification, so I am hugely supportive of the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee. Does the Secretary of State agree that the success of this programme will rely on our ability to let people know it is available and can he set out some steps on how he is ensuring that the right people know about it?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

We are investing £2.5 billion in the national skills fund and extending eligibility for free level 3 courses to more adults. We will announce more details in due course. By the end of this Parliament, we ensure that T-levels are embedded and at scale.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not directly address steps on how he is ensuring people know about it.

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Q4 Rachael Maskell Labour (Co-op) York Central
Education
Context

The MP referenced funding cuts since 2010 and the scrapped union learning fund.

Question

Since 2010, funding for adult education has been slashed in two and funding for further education has been cut by a third. Could the Secretary of State set out exactly how he will invest in skills and what the skills strategy priorities are?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

We are investing £2.5 billion in the national skills fund, including extending eligibility for free level 3 courses and further expanding skills boot camps.

Answered
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Q5 Emma Hardy Lab Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
Education Employment
Context

The MP referenced current labour shortages in HGV driving and the Road Haulage Association's data.

Question

Given that so many of the current labour shortages are in unskilled jobs such as HGV driving, why is so much funding for career retraining focused on levels 3 and above? The advanced learner loan is available only for levels 3 and above, which means a HGV driver who wants to retrain has to self-fund.

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

We are focusing on tactical interventions such as bootcamps and our current work on kickstart, which has £2 billion, and restart, which has £2.9 billion.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not directly address the specific ask about funding for career retraining focused on levels 3 and above.

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Q6 Jesse Norman Con Hereford and South Herefordshire
Education
Context

The MP welcomed the Secretary of State to his place and referenced the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering.

Question

I welcome my right hon. Friend to his place; he has made a brilliant start as Secretary of State. The emphasis that he is placing on further education and skills is the very opposite of myopia, if I may offer that observation to the House. Does he share my view that this is something that the Government should be really leaning into and supporting for the longer term?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

I certainly share my right hon. Friend's priorities and ambition. More importantly, if we can make this work, it truly is scalable and can be a model for other parts of the country in our levelling-up agenda.

Answered
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Q7 Wera Hobhouse Lib Dem Bath
Education
Context

The MP welcomed the new Secretary of State to his role and referenced the Protect Student Choice campaign.

Question

I, too, welcome the new Secretary of State to his role. The Protect Student Choice campaign warns that many students might struggle to enrol on so large an occupation-specific qualification as T-levels at the age of 16. By withdrawing funding from BTECs, how will the Secretary of State guarantee student choice?

Answer from Nadhim Zahawi

We are not withdrawing funding from BTECs. BTECs that are of high quality and valued will continue, but it is only right that we look at the landscape and see where quality lies and how we can increase the ladders of opportunity, not take them away.

Answered
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