Lifelong Learning and Skills Development 2021-11-01
2021-11-01
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP noted her constituents' need for level 3 qualifications. She referenced the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee.
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?
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.
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Assessment & feedback
The answer did not directly address the specific ask about steps on how he is ensuring people know about it.
Response accuracy
Q2
Direct Answer
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The MP welcomed the Secretary of State to his place and referenced last week's investment in education catch-up.
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?
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.
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Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP referenced the Prime Minister's lifetime skills guarantee and her support for it.
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?
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.
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Assessment & feedback
The answer did not directly address steps on how he is ensuring people know about it.
Response accuracy
Q4
Direct Answer
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Context
The MP referenced funding cuts since 2010 and the scrapped union learning fund.
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?
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.
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Q5
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP referenced current labour shortages in HGV driving and the Road Haulage Association's data.
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.
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.
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Assessment & feedback
The answer did not directly address the specific ask about funding for career retraining focused on levels 3 and above.
Response accuracy
Q6
Direct Answer
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Context
The MP welcomed the Secretary of State to his place and referenced the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering.
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?
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.
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Q7
Direct Answer
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Context
The MP welcomed the new Secretary of State to his role and referenced the Protect Student Choice campaign.
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?
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.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy