Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Colleges and Employers: Collaboration

Monday 4 July 2022 · 5 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The roll-out of new local skills improvement plans will forge new relationships between employers and skills providers.
  • Local skills improvement plans, drawn up by employer representative bodies, will bring about collaboration with local colleges.
  • T-levels are experiencing good uptake, with over 90% of students participating in their first year despite the challenges of the pandemic.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Education Employment
Context

The MP is concerned about the need for collaboration to address skills shortages.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to help facilitate collaboration between colleges and employers?

Answer from Alex Burghart

The roll-out of new local skills improvement plans will forge new relationships between employers and the providers of skills to ensure that we have not only the right qualifications but the right qualifications in the right places.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not specify concrete steps or timelines for implementation of local skills improvement plans.

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Q2 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Education Employment Business & Trade
Context

The MP notes a challenge in the growth sector of heat pump installations due to insufficient staff.

Question

Does my hon. Friend agree that local colleges can collaborate with businesses for necessary training?

Answer from Alex Burghart

Local skills improvement plans, drawn up by employer representative bodies, will start to bring about that collaboration. There are already excellent training options for aspiring heat pump installers, such as the level 3 heat pump engineering technician apprenticeship or the T-level in building services engineering for construction—both of which are backed by Government funding.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q3 Sarah Owen Lab Luton North
NHS Education
Context

The MP highlights the success of a BTEC programme at her local sixth form college and its potential.

Question

What is the Department doing to promote that qualification with universities, medical colleges and employers?

Answer from Alex Burghart

We are currently reviewing level 3 qualifications. The overlap list was published a couple of months ago, and we will be responding to it in the new year. We are going through technical qualifications at the moment to make sure they provide students both with a route into work and with experience while they are studying for their qualification.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not specify how the review of level 3 qualifications will directly support BTECs or promote them among universities and employers.

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Q4 Mark Pawsey Con
Education Employment
Context

The MP discusses the difficulty of attracting lecturers to teach technical subjects.

Question

What is my hon. Friend doing to persuade businesses that it is in their own interests to release some of their people into colleges to do training?

Answer from Alex Burghart

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. These closer collaborations between employers and providers are going to make sure that we have both the workforce and the experience in colleges to give students the skills that the economy needs.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Does not specify any concrete measures or initiatives to encourage businesses to release staff for teaching roles.

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Q5 Toby Perkins Lab Chesterfield
Education
Context

The MP raises concerns about the failure to meet recruitment targets for T-levels and its impact.

Question

Does the Minister understand why the policy is failing, and can he assure that enrolment targets will be met in 2022?

Answer from Alex Burghart

T-levels are going extremely well, and we have very good uptake. The first year of T-levels was conducted in perhaps the harshest circumstances imaginable during covid, but thanks to the hard work of my officials and the hard work of principals, we managed to get almost all students—well over 90% of students—their work placements.

Not addressed: Does not address the reasons for poor enrolment or provide assurance regarding future targets.

How: Discussion Of Past Successes During Covid

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