Lifelong Learning

Thursday 6th February 2025 Lords Chamber

Motion to Take Note

17:16

Moved by

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

To move that this House takes note of the social, economic and personal value of lifelong learning.

[Lord Knight of Weymouth (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to introduce this timely debate. I am very much looking forward to the maiden speech of my noble friend Lady Curran.

I must remind the House of my education interests in the register, including chairing Century Tech and advising Pearson, both of which have products used for lifelong learning. I also co-chair the All-Party Group on the Future of Work.

This debate is timely. It is timely because the new Government are getting on with the establishment of Skills England, and reintegrating it with regional and national industrial strategies as part of the essential growth ambitions for the country. It is timely because the Government are remodelling the apprenticeship levy to a more flexible employer-responsive growth and skills levy, and implementing the lifelong learning entitlement. It is timely because of some profound shifts in society caused by ageing and technological change.

These last big shifts point to the need for a significant focus on lifelong learning by this Government after years of neglect. In thinking about this, I am informed by the work of Professors Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott and their prize-winning 2016 book The 100-Year Life; by a lecture given three months ago by Professor Lily Kong, president of the Singapore Management University; and by Professor Christopher Pissarides’s review into the future of work and well-being, which published its report just last week.

The 100-Year Life discusses the implications of more of us living to 100. Across the western world, we are seeing falling birth rates and rising life expectancy. Although that is not equitably spread, the trend is clear. If you want a reasonable pension, a lifespan of 100 requires working into your 80s; although that may be a regular reality in your Lordships’ House, a 60-year working life has wider implications, particularly the inevitability of multiple careers. As AI and other technology rapidly disrupts work, it is also not credible that knowledge and skills obtained into your mid-20s will maintain labour market value for a further six decades. A life of multiple careers needs an education system designed for lifelong learning. We need to move on from the three-phase life of education, then work, then retirement. We need a system that allows all of us to learn in work, to re-enrol in education institutions, to have our learning certificated and recognised as we go, and to navigate successfully through many new directions.

This is most important for our university sector. One of the legacies inherited by this Government from the previous one is an HE sector in financial crisis. The previous Government prevented student fees from rising with inflation, and, as a result, domestic students have become a loss leader and universities have hiked foreign nationals’ fees in response. We need to reverse this trend and protect the massive soft power benefit of these education exports. I congratulate my noble friend the Minister on her leadership in allowing universities to raise fees.

However, the levels of debt that young people carry as they start out in work remains a problem for as long as we stick to the three-phase life. What if university was something we kept returning to throughout our working lives to enable us to pivot our careers? What if we then had a business model more like subscribing to membership of a university over many years, rather than a debt-financed, one-off degree front-loading a long working life? Part of necessary HE reform has to include new financial models based on lifelong learning that allow us to escape the burden of debt that is putting people off going to our great universities.

Beyond HE, our rigid educational system is matched by rigid funding and an education department that is motivated more by qualification outcomes than by people outcomes. The lifelong learning entitlement and the skills and growth levy are opportunities to change that. The Pissarides review argues for a revised and expanded lifelong learning entitlement to reflect the social right to learn, with wider and more flexible access to learning opportunities. Revision of the LLE is also called for by the Open University to make part-time learning easier; by the Learning and Work Institute; and by the QAA, which wants the funding threshold lowered from 30 credits and an opening up of eligibility to microcredentials and short courses.

The LLE has the potential to enable the interweaving of learning and earning throughout our lives. We also then need to add a strand of learning for leisure, so that we can enjoy a later stage of life, with some work alongside a healthy old age. Lifelong learning must not be solely about skills for growth; it must also be for family learning and for physical and mental health. It must include the arts and humanities, passion-based learning, sports and craft skills.

As lifelong learners, we need better metacognition to understand how we best learn, and thereby be better self-directed learners. This, in turn, goes to core intrapersonal skills of reflection and self-modulation. These are often best taught through the arts, sports and humanities. Resilience skills can be taught and should be nurtured from schools, through FE and HE, and into adult learning. As we all get old, the same skills will help us be healthier and care for ourselves longer, but we will also need to be better at caring for each other. We need these intangible assets of learning as much as the tangible assets of finance and qualifications.

Evermore capable machines are fast emerging, as robotics and generative AI imminently combine to create intelligent agile cyborgs. The competitive threat of these machines will be met only by being better humans. AI is great at what we assess in education, but it really struggles with basic human abilities such as physical perception and social interaction. These are the behaviours that we all have without thinking and that we recognise in others subconsciously. Studying the humanities teaches us about how humans behave and organise themselves. Studying the arts allows us to reflect on how we feel. Therefore, although the STEM subjects are vital in helping us understand what works and what we need, the arts and humanities are essential in understanding why we need and will use them. All this points to the need for more interdisciplinary depth in lifelong learning.

The UK and China are particularly stuck on a craving for narrow disciplinary and specialist knowledge. Our school curriculum is knowledge rich and organised by subject silos. This is further narrowed with A-levels as a reflection of how our universities organise themselves. But, as the Pissarides review says, skills diversity—that is, combining social and technical skills—

“is increasing across the board”

in work, including within “high-tech/digital roles”.

Most subject disciplines have existed for only the last 100 years or so and they do not reflect how we innovate or work. Nobel Prize-winning science tends to come from insights connecting across silos, not so much deep within them. Is it not time for our universities and further education colleges to have more flexible, modular courses, like the US system? Should a lifelong learning system not by design give parity to multidisciplinary learning alongside single disciplinary specialism?

This would be eased by more breadth in the 16 to 19 phase of secondary education and the adoption of digital portfolios to capture achievement as recorded by institutions, employers and awarding bodies. Digital credentials can be held by the individual and shared with whoever they give consent to. That consent allows digital access for prospective employers or admissions offices to drill into what a person can do and has done in a way that will give so much more insight than a paper certificate. Such a system can then live with a person as their ongoing record of lifelong learning and employment. AI tools would be able to match it to labour market opportunities and skills training that could, in turn, transform an individual’s potential to take experience from one career into the next.

Clearly, this all circles back to how the lifelong learning entitlement is rolled out, and the stakes are high. If lifelong learning does not become ingrained in more than the current 50% who take advantage of adult learning, and if it is not enabled by government and employers, we will see technology deskill people who do not have the capacity or confidence to reskill. Those not currently participating in lifelong learning are, of course, the least educated and those who need it the most. The result is enduring productivity issues, unaffordable numbers on long-term sickness benefit and widespread dissatisfaction: a belief that working hard, doing the right thing and trusting traditional democratic government is no longer worth while. That leads to toxic populism, and the vaccination against that poison is lifelong learning.

An education system that is lifelong by design will focus on more than just cognitive intelligence by nurturing more human qualities and interdisciplinary learning, and by integrating learners at whatever age with each other. What does that mean for each stage of our education system? For schools, it means a shift in accountability to value equally sport, the arts and applied learning, such as design and technology, alongside the abstract knowledge valued in the EBacc and Progress 8. Post-16, it requires a much bigger push on project-based qualifications, such as the EPQ, as part of the mix, incentivising voluntary work and more breadth than we currently get from three A-levels.

FE must be positioned as a more universal service for adults both young and old. Colleges should be at the heart of our communities and our local and regional economies. In many ways, we should see them as the platform from which to access a range of learning from the college itself, but also family learning, the University of the Third Age, the OU, other HE in hybrid form, the Workers’ Educational Association and so on. FE could also be the entry point for most businesses. We organise our skills system to meet the needs of large employers, yet less than a fifth of us work for these big businesses. FE should be where most businesses go to help them develop the talent pipelines that they need to compete and flourish.

Apprenticeships and T-levels have a key role to play in this future, but so do other qualifications. If I am right about digital portfolios, these could include certificated courses that are more agile than most regulated qualifications. If such courses are recognised by employers, that ought to be good enough for the rest of us.

Future skills are likely to be higher level. Future growth will predominantly come from technology that craves the excellent graduates from the likes of Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial—the golden triangle. However, as I have set out, the opportunities for new business models off the back of modularisation and a lifelong relationship with universities should be encouraged.

Adult skills are usually neglected in this context. The funding is meagre, and the stakes are now high. I am told that the DfE has warned combined authorities to expect cuts to adult education budgets next year. Deskilling will accelerate. Employers must be incentivised to invest in the ongoing learning of staff to develop them for new roles as old roles disappear. Individuals should feel empowered by the adult skills system to trust and not fear the new technology because it is creating as many opportunities for them as it has closed others down, and some of those opportunities will make it easier for them to pursue passions and build mental resilience through the arts and humanities.

This is a big part of the challenge for Skills England and the new growth and skills levy. The levy is the key: it is the opportunity for the new body to engage employers and show them that Skills England is an advance on IfATE. I urge my noble friend to resist any official push that the levy should fund only a narrow set of regulated qualifications. It must be highly responsive to the needs of employers of all sizes in a fast-moving labour market.

If the Treasury is listening—I emphasise “if”—it too will need to work hard on this agenda, especially for FE and adult skills. The price of underfunding will come back to bite through rising spending by the DWP and the economic uncertainty created by swathes of workers checking out and embracing populist politics.

This is critical for the future of our economy and to give individuals hope for their future. We are living at a time when uncertainty is the only certainty, and there has never been a more important time to promote and resource lifelong learning. As Kofi Annan said:

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family”.


I beg to move.

17:31

[Baroness Shephard of Northwold (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on securing this debate, his insightful remarks and reminding us that all sectors of education need to evolve as our society changes. Lifelong learning has social, economic and personal value. It is long established but it has many of the qualities that the noble Lord demands: it is diverse, flexible, collaborative and constantly evolving to meet the needs of its customers. But it is frequently overlooked—although not today.

I am glad to note that, within the Government’s ambitious plans for reform of apprenticeships and for further and technical education, there is also mention of lifelong learning, responsibility for which I think is going to lie with mayoralties. The Government have equally ambitious plans for the wholesale reform of local government at the same time. I am looking at the Minister, who is smiling—it is not a gloomy day—and I am hoping that she is going to be able to reassure noble Lords that lifelong learning will not fall through any cracks.

Lifelong learning providers include local government, as we all know, colleges, schools, universities, extramural boards and, indeed, the voluntary sector. Courses can be part-time and short- or long-term, and they increasingly lead to qualifications. Grants are available for learning essential skills. There is a free courses for jobs scheme for low earners and the unemployed. Lifelong learning can be delivered, as we all know, remotely as lectures, courses and classes, and held in schools and colleges after hours, in village halls and—sometimes, in my own experience—in pubs.

The Open University was founded in 1969, and it has been one of the most revolutionary developments in lifelong learning. It enabled people—from their homes, with help from televised lectures and in-person courses—to graduate. The WEA, founded in 1903, has a distinguished record of providing pathways to qualifications and purely academic courses. The University of the Third Age has, since 1982, made an extremely valuable contribution to lifelong learning. It is run by volunteers, and its membership is now at nearly half a million.

The benefits of lifelong learning are wide-ranging. It can play a huge role in the future world of education the noble Lord described. It can certainly improve employment prospects, and research has also shown that it can benefit social skills and confidence and even improve mental health. One of the things that appeals most to me about it is that it is widely available and usually accessible, even in rural areas.

Our lifelong learning sector is unique, creative and endlessly adaptable. It has been a precious source of social mobility and more for generations. I ask the Minister to reassure the House that its unique nature and provision will not be threatened by all the activity going on in the education sectors that could affect its freedom and its effectiveness. I believe that she will be able to reassure me on that point. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for his widening of all our horizons on the contribution that education makes to our lives and to our nation.

17:36

[Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (CB)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for securing this debate. I declare an interest as an employed academic at King’s College London. It is gratifying that so many of us want to speak even though we have only four minutes. But there is a slightly gloomy hinterland, which is that people like us have been talking about the importance of lifelong learning for a very long time, and meanwhile adult education spending and numbers are going down, part-time and adult HE numbers are down, and higher education provision in further education is down. So there is a lot to do.

Because I have only three minutes left, I will concentrate on the higher education, higher skills end of things, rather than the literacy, numeracy and ESL provision that makes up a very large part of current adult education.

I was a member of the Augar review, and our number one recommendation was the LLE—lifelong learning entitlement—about which the noble Lord, Lord Knight, spoke so eloquently. I still believe that this is a hugely important reform. It was a big relief, and enormously gratifying in the years before the last election, to have cross-party support and to have that support reiterated by the present Government. I have a slight worry that everybody is so busy thinking about how to reform it before we start, that five years from now we might still be talking about what the ideal structure would be. I urge the Government to get on with it, because until we try it, we will not find out what works and what does not.

Having said that, I will suggest a couple of things that could do with some attention and which are not to do with the design of the LLE, but more to do with the structure and supply of opportunities in the institutional landscape. If you look at a number of other countries that are not so different from us—Canada, Australia and the United States are obvious examples—there has been a significant increase in recent years in the number of people doing short but relatively high-level, what we would probably call level 4, courses in vocational areas. That has been possible because of the institutional structures as well as the funding mechanisms. Those countries basically all have systems not unlike ours in that it is a combination of state support and people paying fees, with more or less well-developed income-contingent back-up.

That teaches us that we have to look at the structures and incentives for our institutions to supply lifelong opportunities and not just at the demand that might be generated by making adult student funding more flexible. Whether or not we manage to transform our provision will be about demand and supply, but you cannot just wait for the demand to appear. You have to have incentives to provide the sorts of courses that people want.

There is a huge amount of talk about modules. My sense is that short courses and one-year courses are probably just as important, but we will not find out until we go out there. I would like to flag one recommendation of the Augar review that got nowhere, which was that institutions should be strongly encouraged, if not required, by the regulator to offer higher certificates and higher diplomas rather than treating anything other than a full degree as an exit award that is only really offered if you fail. For some reason that never got anywhere. I have never understood why the DfE did not like it, but somehow it did not and it never went anywhere. I would like to lob it back in.

What I would really like to ask the Minister—but I know she cannot tell me—is when will the regs be laid for the LLE to be activated? When will the roadshows start? Since I cannot get an answer to that, can she assure us that the DfE is considering structures as well as the structure of the lending?

17:40

[The Lord Bishop of Norwich]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for bringing this debate and look forward in the spirit of lifelong learning to hearing other contributions this evening.

Lifelong learning is about social value, although we do not live to store up treasure just for ourselves. It is about economic value, although we do not live by bread alone. It is about personal value, although we do not live just for me but for the flourishing of others who are our neighbours. Faith communities play an important part in all these aspects of lifelong learning, through catechesis, engagement with social issues, basic skills training, youth work, volunteering and engagement with schools, FE colleges and universities. They are also crucially involved in spiritual value by fostering vocation and character.

Within faith communities, and certainly for Christians, there is a strong sense that each individual is uniquely and wonderfully made with a mix of gifts, abilities and motivations. Part of our searching in life is to find our vocation where we can find life in all its fullness. Our vocations can be multiple and overlaid with paid work, voluntary service to others and perhaps a role as a parent or carer, all of which need different skills. Different vocations emerge over time, sometimes requiring new skills and knowledge as people move into new careers and interests.

Vocation has an interplay with the second area that faith communities are so involved with, which is character. In his book The Road to Character David Brooks speaks about “résumé virtues” and “eulogy virtues”. Résumé virtues are those things that we put on our CV, such as our jobs and our qualifications, whereas eulogy virtues are those things about us that might, we hope, be said one day at our funeral. Brooks argues that we need to develop a healthy character.

As I turn the pages of the Gospels, I see how Jesus is continually shaping the character of his disciples, how they interacted and how they served others. St Paul, of course, spoke of a well-shaped character being seen in a person of love and joy, peace and forbearance, kindness and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I believe that we are continually shaped through a life of learning as if we are clay in the potter’s hand.

Does the Minister agree that vocation and character are two crucial areas for human flourishing and that faith communities have a vital part to play in fostering them as well as other aspects of lifelong learning?

17:44

[Lord Blunkett (Lab)]

I have a number of relevant registered interests. I am very pleased to follow the right reverend Prelate and to endorse what I thought was an excellent “Thought for the Day”, which I hope he will be able to get on Radio 4. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Knight on an excellent opening speech, and I endorse everything he said. I look forward very much to the maiden speech of my noble friend Lady Curran, who is surrounded by friends, so she should have no fear. Being in this place is a lifelong learning experience. I often come in literally to have a seminar, learning things I know nothing about, and go away at least somewhat enlightened. I believe that we should endorse that kind of experience from the beginning to the end of our lives.

I have had a few hiccups lately, so I may not make the 100 that my noble friend Lord Knight referred to, but I am going to do my best. During that time, as well as advocating for a massive shift in the skills agenda, as I have been doing inside and outside this House, I will return to my real love, which is lifelong learning. Just over 25 years ago, I had the privilege of publishing the paper: The Learning Age. The department was slightly bewildered as my noble friend Lady Shephard, as I like to call her, will remember because I succeeded her. No. 10 was not just bewildered; it was bemused about why I should be spending time and energy on lifelong learning. The truth is that our country has been built on it.

The trade union movement was the first to understand the liberation of learning and the way in which this transformed the lives of not just individuals but families and whole communities. After the miners’ strike 40 years ago, women were liberated in my home area of South Yorkshire by adult learning being made available. I hope my noble friend can reassure me that the two remaining adult residential colleges that have major outreach will be secured in an environment where devolution of funding to combined authorities leaves artificial boundaries that might undermine funding initiatives of that sort. My university, the University of Sheffield, was in part built on a levy by the trade unions in the area which put together what would now be worth millions of pounds to get that university off the ground in 1905. The history of people understanding what it was doing to them, their lives and their opportunity and community is something we should build on.

My noble friend Lord Knight and the noble Baroness, Lady Wolf, mentioned the lifelong learning entitlement. Please let us make it more flexible, more usable and, in the end, more successful, but let us also look at new ways of delivering lifelong learning. Artificial intelligence and technology are transforming the world of work, which is why lifelong learning will be critical for people to return to learn in all kinds of ways. However, artificial intelligence and technology can also deliver and help to spread the opportunity of lifelong learning, including to people who are confined to their home.

My final point, because of the time limit, is very simple. We need lifelong learning to keep us alert and alive and to stave off dementia. I have had a long-standing commitment in the area of dementia, so I know from every possible experience just what a difference it can make if people remain alert and alive at the end of their main working period and throughout their retirement. We have an obligation to ensure that this new Government do not make cuts in what has already been a devastated area of public funding. I appeal to my Government to not condemn austerity and then carry it through. Together, nationally and locally, through civil society, we can make this work.

17:49

[Lord Bates (Con)]

It is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, and I add my congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on securing this debate and suggest to him that there is another reason why it is timely. The Chancellor spoke last week of the urgent need to remove barriers to economic growth. One of those barriers, I argue, is an outdated mindset around the contribution that older people can make to our economy.

The first state pension was introduced by the Asquith Government in 1908, and the retirement age was set at 70, when the average life expectancy of the population was around 50. Today, life expectancy is 30 years higher at 82 and yet the state retirement age is four years lower than it was a century ago. Moreover, that was at a time when most of the jobs required physical strength, which declines with age, whereas today most of the jobs are in the knowledge- and service-based sectors.

There are many examples in your Lordships’ House of the contribution that older people make. The average age of Members of your Lordships’ House is 71, and some of the sharpest and most insightful contributions come from Members well into their 80s and 90s. Lord Mackay of Clashfern is the wisest and kindest man I know. He retired aged 95 a few years ago; in my view, that was an early retirement and a loss to the House. The point is that we are surrounded by living examples who defy the prevailing societal norms and expectations of retirement.

Outside this House, there are many more examples. The Rolling Stones are still touring, and many in their 20s and 30s would find it a challenge to swagger like Jagger in his 80s. Sir David Attenborough made the spectacular “Planet Earth III” series for the BBC at the age of 97. So why do we have such an outdated and outmoded view of the economic potential of people and the valuable contribution they can make, as long as they feel able?

I declare an interest as a very mature student. I left school without any qualifications at 16 and earned my first degree at 37. I began a master’s degree in my 50s and I hope to finally complete my PhD later this year at the age of 64. It has been thoroughly joyful and rejuvenating experience—although my supervisors may not see it that way. We have irrefutable evidence that continuing to learn has huge health benefits, including improved mental health and physical fitness, reduced loneliness, delayed onset of dementia and an enhanced quality of life.

Before we hear the much-anticipated maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, I want to conclude with another living example, Dr Neville Brown. He is Britain’s oldest teacher and a pioneer of teaching schoolchildren with dyslexia. Last week, he celebrated his 90th birthday with students at the Maple Hayes Hall School for Dyslexics in Lichfield, which he founded 40 years ago. At his school, pupils who were once unable to write their name have gone on to attain good GCSEs, A-levels and university degrees. When interviewed by Lara Davies for BBC local radio, he said that he had absolutely no intention of slowing down or retiring because there are so many more schoolchildren who need his help. We can follow his example and, in doing so, unlock the potential for our golden generation to play their part in growing our economy, enriching our society and realising our full potential as a great nation.

17:52

[Baroness Curran (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

I am very pleased to speak in this debate this afternoon, as I have embarked on my own programme of lifelong learning these past few weeks. Although this is my third parliamentary Chamber, I still feel the nerves and anxiety of the new girl. But any anxiety has been greatly assuaged by the kindness and graciousness with which I have been welcomed. That it has come from all sides of the House is greatly appreciated. My sincere thanks go to Black Rod, her amazing staff, the wise doorkeepers, the cleaners, the catering staff and the incredible staff in the Library. The support I have had from my noble friends Lady Smith and Lord Kennedy has been both encouraging and empowering—not words I usually associate with a Chief Whip.

I am sure my late parents could never have foreseen me standing here. They arrived in Townhead in Glasgow from Ireland with scarcely a penny in their pockets. They taught my three sisters and me the value of education, the dignity of honest labour, and a deep belief in equality for all. I owe so much to my family, especially to my sister Bridget, who is in the Gallery today, and who, since I could read, has thrust a book into my hand—books that I believe have changed the course of my life.

There is a part of me that is surprised that I am here: a working-class girl with no historic or familial connection to politics. That I have sustained this is because of the encouragement I received from my noble friends Lady Harman and Lady Liddell, who introduced me to your Lordships’ House. Both of them are icons of progress and change. I thank them for helping me in these past few weeks and the many years before.

My mother always said that Scotland had been good to her family. She understood only too well the benefit of government help—from family allowance paid to mothers, the provision of social housing and investment in state education—proving for me that the real measure of politics is less in the high rhetoric, or the flags flown, but in the lives changed.

I cherish my Irish roots, but my mother’s words gave me a deep love of Scotland. As I grew up, Scotland faced profound change. There was a clamour for a new kind of politics and a new parliament to address the injustice and inequality that had plagued our nation for too long. Those were exciting times, and I am very proud that on the Labour Benches we achieved that momentous 50:50 representation of women and men.

I served in the Scottish Parliament for 12 years, half of them in the Scottish Cabinet, and that Parliament made its mark early. My own work involved landmark legislation on homelessness and violence against women, and as Housing Minister we fundamentally altered investment in Glasgow’s dilapidated housing through a stock transfer. This would not have been possible without the actions of the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, who lifted the stranglehold of the city’s housing debt. That was a clear demonstration of the value of the partnership we have built across the UK, reinforcing my deep belief in a strong, assertive Scottish Parliament, enhanced by the solidarity we must maintain across our nations and regions. Of course, these issues were to the fore during the heady days of the Scottish referendum. As shadow Secretary of State for Scotland during my five years in the other place, I argued then, and I will continue to argue, that the best interests of Scotland are served by leading in the UK, not leaving it.

More recently, I worked internationally to support political and parliamentary development. I recall women in Libya, Myanmar, Guatemala and other countries who, through years of conflict and oppression, have shown resilience, courage and commitment. In this work I found myself translated into different languages: Arabic, Portuguese, Russian and others. Occasionally, my English colleagues would ask for some translation too. I hope that in this House I will not need too much translation, because here voices from Glasgow should be heard. We should hear voices from other parts of the land too—from our inner cities and our rural communities, our islands and our coastal regions. We have to understand the ambitions, talents and aspirations across our land that are too often frustrated and unfulfilled.

It is why sustained programmes of lifelong learning are more important than ever. We must drive change now, as Labour Governments have in the past, to unleash the reservoir of ability and energy that I see every day. That is how we will navigate our way through a changing and turbulent world, fuel economic growth and offer a path to new skills, better jobs and increased prosperity for all.

17:58

[Lord Monks (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure and privilege to follow my noble friend Lady Curran and the excellent maiden speech we have just been treated to. She is a graduate of a tough school. Clydeside politics is not for wimps and the faint-hearted, but it is a rich academy producing gifted political figures—my noble friend is certainly one of those. We all wish her son Chris very well; he is MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. I am sure I speak for everyone in congratulating my noble friend on her powerful speech here today. We are looking forward to many other interventions by her in the work of this House.

I turn to the subject of today’s debate, lifelong learning, which is an area where the UK—let us be frank—continues to struggle compared to the best. Over my years at the TUC, I worked with industrial training boards, sector skills councils, the Manpower Services Commission and the Learning and Skills Council, among other prominent institutions that have been involved. None survived political change. Regular institutional upheaval has been a feature of our efforts at lifelong learning in this country, and in my view a very damaging one. It contrasts with some other leading countries and with the higher education world, which has enjoyed relative stability at the same time as there has been turmoil on the vocational front.

It is very depressing to see the decline in the number of students at colleges of further education and in the adult learning world—down by 70% over the decade that has just passed. It is a sign of a sector in trouble, and we are nowhere near achieving the parity of esteem objective that many of us have long sought. Even apprenticeships, the strongest brand in the vocational learning armoury, have been subject to many changes and alterations to the rules. It is complicated territory.

I hope the Bill being piloted through Parliament at the moment by my noble friend on the Front Bench will address these weaknesses and launch a new surge of interest in lifelong learning. I also hope that it will be the last of the regular institutional changes, which I believe have been a drag anchor on progress. Lifelong learning has not been a glamorous subject, and it needs to be. I saw a report produced for the World Economic Forum earlier this week. It forecasted that two-fifths of the existing jobs will be outdated by artificial intelligence in the next five years. That is 40%, and if it is anything like accurate, this shows graphically the scale of the challenges.

How are we to help the people affected to adjust and adapt to the new world? It will not necessarily be a brave new world for many of them. Then there are the cohorts of people who did not succeed at school and struggled to get decent work. Many of them are a long way from achieving some of the basic skills that are necessary for life. One of the pleasures I have had was handing out qualification certificates to successful students in the union learning programme that the TUC ran, supported by my noble friend Lord Blunkett when he was Secretary of State. At that stage, in our peak years, we managed to bring 250,000 students through the processes and through the different courses. I am sorry to say that tribal politics took over and that was abolished by Gavin Williamson when he was Secretary of State.

In my view, it is very important that we concentrate on this Bill—on making it succeed and tackle some of the problems that we have. The country deserves it and the people of this country, particularly the ones who missed out at school, really deserve it. It is vital that we get on with it.

18:03

[Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord and particularly to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, on her maiden speech. As the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, said, she will find that this Chamber is an opportunity for lifelong learning every time we come into it. It is absolutely true to say that, every time I am here, I hear something new and learn something from noble Lords. So we look forward to her contributions, and I thank her for her passionate and well-argued speech. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on bringing this debate. I am sure that all of us could have spoken for much longer, had we been allowed, so he has hit on a popular topic. I declare my interest as chair of the board of the national Careers & Enterprise Company and a former chair of the East Midlands Institute of Technology.

In its briefing for this debate, the Learning and Work Institute said that, in 2022-23, 1.7 million people did not just change jobs but switched sectors. That is not just government reshuffles; it is people outside government who switched sectors and therefore had to embrace lifelong learning in order to learn how to do a new job.

In the time available today, the point I want to make is the importance of encouraging that attitude of lifelong learning that so many noble Lords have already spoken about, at both school and college, and doing so via careers advice of all shapes and sizes. As we have already heard, it is important that people of all ages understand that leaving formal education does not mean that learning ends.

The Careers & Enterprise Company, which, as I said, I have the pleasure of chairing, has been backed by successive Governments, including this one, and we thank the Minister very much indeed for her engagement so far. It is driving awareness and interest in key sectors through co-ordinated employer engagement, particularly in the delivery of modern work experience. The Careers & Enterprise Company is piloting the Government’s commitment to two weeks’ work experience in pilots across the health, construction and digital sectors. As the noble Lord, Lord Knight, set out in his opening remarks, the advent, growth and acceleration of new technology mean that lifelong learning is becoming a reality for so many more of us.

The company wants to provide an efficient, evidence-driven basis for regionally driven, nationally led careers and skills systems. The point is that when our young people in schools and colleges visit modern workplaces and hear from employers, it is really important that they see lifelong learning in practice, as other noble Lords have said.

We also welcome the focus on local partnerships and the powers held by mayoral authorities to embed sustainable structures for lifelong learning. There is an opportunity here to learn from the company’s careers hubs, which are networked across all parts of the country. Their role is critical in furthering local skills ambitions with a place-based democratic structure through local and mayoral authorities. The company will work in partnership with every mayoral combined authority to make sure that mayoral priorities are represented, and to ensure a seamless transition from the careers system into the adult skills system.

To conclude, as we heard from my noble friend Lord Bates, lifelong learning, the subject of this debate, supports the Government’s growth agenda. My message to the Minister is that she has the support of us all when she next has to negotiate with the Treasury. We hope that it spends as much time on human capital as it does on infrastructure.

18:07

[Lord Bichard (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on securing the debate, and the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, on her maiden speech. It is a short congratulations because I am already running out of time; I apologise for that.

In the mid-1990s, I was Permanent Secretary at what was then the Department for Education and Employment. In that role, I worked for several of the speakers in this evening’s debate—sorry, I should have said, “I was privileged to work for several of the speakers in this evening’s debate”. One of the department’s three objectives was lifelong learning—to create a learning society. I was passionate about it at the time, not just because those noble Lords were too but because it seemed to be a no-brainer, as they say now. It is the route to growth and increased productivity. It will deliver higher tax revenues—if the Treasury is listening—reduced welfare dependency, better public health outcomes and greater social mobility. It enables citizens to better fulfil their personal potential and improve their quality of life, and it helps older people like me to retain their independence. In a world that is being reshaped by AI and digital technology, lifelong learning has never been more important.

No other investment gives you that kind of return, so why is it proving so difficult to deliver a learning society? After all, as the noble Lord, Lord Monks, said, we have tried every conceivable delivery agency, from training and enterprise councils to the Learning and Skills Council and now Skills England—I wish it well. We have tried a whole range of different qualification frameworks and incentives, but participation in lifelong learning remains stubbornly low.

The noble Lord, Lord Knight, referred to participation of 50%, but I think, year on year, it is somewhere between 40 and 50% of adults who say they are currently learning or have done so in the last three years, and 30% of people say they have never learnt since full-time education. With a new Government now focused on growth, the question is: how are we going to change that? What do we need to do differently? What are the lessons of history?

First, the Government need genuinely to believe that economic growth depends not just on increased investment in projects, which we have heard a lot about recently, but as much, if not more, on investment in people and in skills. They need genuinely to believe that, if they are to make the investment that is necessary to deliver it. The system needs significant additional investment to right the wrongs of the recent past. There has been a substantial real-terms reduction in spending on adult skills since the early 2000s, despite what we have all been saying in places like the House of Lords, and many of the incentives to learn, relearn and retrain have been withdrawn. The additional funding in the recent Budget was very welcome, but it is nowhere near enough to restore the situation.

Some of the new investment, if we are able to achieve it, has to go towards tackling the problem of flexible part-time learning. The current tertiary system does not support flexible learning. The catastrophic fall in the number of part-time students in HE has been worrying, and the Sutton Trust report, entitled The Lost Part-Timers, says it all. The lifelong learning entitlement is not perfect, but it is an opportunity to improve, so students can better fit study around work and other responsibilities. Can the Minister commit to implementing the lifelong learning entitlement in 2027? I think my Ministers would have said that this is a fairly relaxed target, so are we able to commit to that? Can we commit to credit-based fee caps to facilitate increasing demand for accelerated learning? Can we also protect the value of the student premium in the spending review to support institutions that are finding the increased costs of part-time difficult to cope with?

18:12

[Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell (Con)]

My Lords, I would like to pick up on two points in this debate: first, the point made very well by the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on how AI is changing the requirements for lifelong learning; and, secondly, how businesses play a hugely important role in lifelong learning.

As others have noted, the skills demanded by the labour market are rapidly changing and the jobs available in the future will be different to the jobs offered in today’s economy. The biggest driver of this change is AI and automation. As the Department for Education noted in its report on this subject in 2023, the jobs at greatest risk are in London and the south-east, with some of the most at-risk professions being management consultants, business analysts, psychologists and legal professionals. Many have yet to fully wake up to the impact that AI will have on the labour market and social norms. The inspiring story of someone in a low-paid service sector role, studying at night school to train as an accountant or lawyer, will fade away. In the future, the story is more likely to be that of a white-collar worker losing their job and retraining to become a bricklayer, plasterer or forklift truck driver. This has huge implications both for the type of lifelong learning required and also for the careers we encourage children to take up at school.

I went to a bookshop at the weekend with my daughters, aged four and seven, to see what careers were recommended by the books on offer. Much to their disappointment, Santa’s helper and dinosaur farmer were not suggested options. One of the books directed the girls towards some of the most at-risk careers as defined by the DfE’s AI report. Another described jobs that were unbelievably niche: professional sleeper, cow massager and sloth nanny. We need to encourage children towards the jobs of the 2040s, not the 1940s, and we need lifelong learning to train people for the careers of the future rather than the careers of the past.

I want to finish on an optimistic note. Shortly before Christmas, I visited a company which owns dozens of restaurants around London and Birmingham. I sat in on a training session for trainee managers, all of whom had begun in entry-level positions. I asked one of the participants what their ambition was, and they said, “To own my own restaurant”. I know they will do it. I came away inspired by the group’s positivity, their drive, their work ethic and their camaraderie. It was the very best of lifelong learning: a fantastic employer, helping people climb up the career ladder to move from trainee, to employee, to team leader, to manager, to owner. The essence of a good society is to make that ladder of opportunity accessible to everyone, and we should thank businesses for the important role they play in lifelong learning. We should also think carefully about careers education in schools. Let us harness the enthusiasm of Santa’s helpers to become toy designers and encourage dinosaur farmers to become vertical farmers. After all, even with AI, there will always be jobs in toys and food.

18:16

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Knight of Weymouth, for securing this debate. I am interested in his suggestion of a subscription model for universities for lifelong learning, not just because, as someone who spent about 8.3 years full-time equivalent in universities, I would do rather well out of that model; none the less, I am going to stick with the Green Party’s understanding that education is a public good that should be paid for from general taxation—far more progressive taxation than we have now—rather than being a weight on the individual.

I commend the noble Lord particularly for the phrasing of the question, which looks at the social and personal value of lifelong learning, as well as the economic value. To be an informed voter, to be a parent able to help their children navigate a fast-changing world in the age of shocks, to contribute to your community as a citizen, lifelong learning is not a “nice to have”, or an add-on but an essential basis for health and survival, both individually and collectively.

However, I am going to turn one word around and focus on the importance of unlearning what we might previously have been taught—of acknowledging that science and knowledge are not one fixed certainty, or a tower built on solid foundations, progressing forward with stately certainty. As a society, as individuals, we need to unlearn much.

I am 58 years old, and much of what I was taught at school and early university, from the supposition of DNA providing a blueprint for life to the “primitiveness” of hunter-gatherer life and the inevitability of the tragedy of the commons, was demonstrably wrong. Much of the thinking of the 20th century—which often in the global North claimed universality but in fact was highly particular to the ideology and interests of the few at that moment—has been disproved or simply surpassed by the huge volume of knowledge generation we have seen in recent decades and, just starting, by knowledge recovery from indigenous and other cultures.

To give three examples: students are still taught, and the media extols in expensively produced wildlife documentaries and casual news commentaries, that life on this planet is built on the foundation of competition. Yet everyone should know that the 20th-century giant of biology, Lynn Margulis, developed our understanding of symbiosis—the co-operation between species—and of the source of mitochondria and chloroplasts, the origin and foundation of all complex life forms, and everyone should understand how soils are a co-operative production of more-than-human life and non-living entities, not an inert chemical substrate, as I was taught at university. If the very foundation of life is co-operation, not competition, our view of the world and our society has to change.

Then there is the so-called central dogma of US biologist James Watson, the physicist, eugenicist and misogynist—after whom, astonishingly, the new research centre at St Pancras was named—which has been substantively debunked yet is still widely taught.

There is also the tragedy of the commons, which is all too often taught as fact rather than the fantasy of Garrett Hardin, a would-be applier of coercive population control. We were told that holding resources in private ownership was the only way to protect them. Yet it was in 1990 that Elinor Ostrom, later a Nobel Economics Prize winner, published Governing the Commons: the Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action.

The Minister frequently speaks to us about the Government’s curriculum review. I hope that it and indeed the curriculums and approaches of our colleges and universities, and the approaches to further education taken by everything from the University of the Third Age to sceptics in the pub, will all adopt knowledge for the 21st century, because that is what we need.

18:20

[Lord Aberdare (CB)]

My Lords, I am about to subject myself to a lifelong learning experience. These often end in disaster, so I apologise in advance if that is the case.

I have been hugely inspired by a lot of what we have heard, starting with the brilliant overview from the noble Lord, Lord Knight, of everything that lifelong learning is about, and including the wonderful maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Curran. Compared to these, I felt my own planned remarks were so deeply pedestrian that I should try to do something different. I will therefore try to riff on one of the points that I was planning to make.

I hasten to add that I have mentioned before to your Lordships’ House that one aspect of lifelong learning that I have never experienced in a proper way is oracy. It did not exist when I was at school, so let us see how I get on.

One of the things that struck me most was the point that the people who pursue lifelong learning most are mainly those who need it least. I cannot resist mentioning my grandmother, in the context of the speech from the noble Lord, Lord Bates. She started upholstery classes when she was well into her 70s and used to produce all sorts of wonderfully upholstered chairs and things for us.

It is very clear that take-up of lifelong learning is skewed by class, race, age and place. It is skewed also by lack of suitable provision, lack of awareness, lack of confidence, disability, disadvantage, poverty or bad experiences of education.

Before I came here, I used to work in a small business that provided employability training. We mainly worked with young offenders and young people who were at risk of becoming NEET—not in employment, education or training. Working with the young offenders was fine, because they were all in prison so we could get at them, but as soon as they left prison it was impossible to get them back. They went with wonderful ideas about what they were going to do with all the things on which we had worked, but then they disappeared. Even Nacro, which we were working with, could not get them to come to all the wonderful follow-up sessions that we had arranged.

It was similar with many of the NEETs, who had huge problems with family issues, substance abuse and generally chaotic lifestyles. We would arrange appointments with employers, training sessions or whatever, but they would still be in bed. We got to the point of sending taxis out to their homes to bring them in—not quite forcibly, but helping them to get in to benefit from what we had to offer.

I am arguing that the one thing that has been a little missing from this debate is how we get to the people who we are not reaching. I gather that 27% or fewer adults in deprived areas are engaged in learning. We ought to have a strategy, maybe as part of the post-16 education and skills strategy. I hope that any strategy pays a lot of attention to that cohort of people who are missing out and difficult to get to.

I will just mention one other example. Griffith Jones of Llanddowror was a Welsh preacher who set up circulating schools throughout Wales. Some 200,000 people went through those schools because they wanted to be there. How do we recreate that sort of desire to learn among the people who are not learning? I apologise for inflicting my very inchoate thoughts on your Lordships.

18:24

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on securing this debate. This is a key issue that touches all our lives.

I congratulate the House of Lords Library on an excellent brief. It reminded me of the significance of the Workers’ Educational Association, which was used by my union’s education college. At that time it was avidly supported by the Communist Party. The WEA was good at what it did and supplied good teaching.

As so many people have told us, if you are an active Member of the House of Lords, you are engaged in lifelong learning. It is dead easy. As somebody said, “You come in here and you learn something every day”. In fact, I usually reflect that when I am speaking about something, there will be at least half a dozen noble Lords who are twice as knowledgeable as I am about the subject. That is just a fact of life.

The Labour Government’s policy and what they are attempting to do is pretty good. They are going to devolve funding. I suggest that this should not just be for skills, but that apprenticeship funding ought to be included. I would welcome the Minister’s views on this. Reforming the apprenticeship levy is long overdue; it needs to be made more relevant and more flexible.

Tomorrow is the 213th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, of whom I am a fan. He was a man who believed in lifelong learning. He was a supporter of the mechanics’ institutes, which encouraged working-class people to learn. Dickens gave wonderful performances of extracts from his novels, and of course he spoke from experience, as he tramped the streets of London learning about what life was really like on those streets—I am trying to keep an eye on the time.

I want to give a plug for something I do regularly in lifelong learning, which is “Learn with the Lords”. I go out and speak to young people. When I ask them why they think I am coming to talk to them, they usually tell me it is because I am going to educate them. I say, “No, no, you’re wrong; you’re going to educate me”, and that is what happens. It is very interesting talking to them about whether they think they should have votes at 16. You get a much more nuanced response to that than you would imagine.

I am not such a pessimist as some have been in this debate. First, I notice from my own children how people do not stay in the same job. They move and change, as my own son has done. In fact, at one point I had to give him a nudge. He had been at a company for eight years, obviously he was not enjoying it anymore, and now he is doing exceedingly well. We have to think differently.

The nature of apprenticeships is also changing, which is a good thing. You can be an apprenticeship lawyer, doctor, nurse or accountant, which is great. So we should not be too pessimistic. Of course, artificial intelligence will have an impact, but some skills will always be with us. I relish the fact that, after many years of trying, I still cannot hang a door. That is because I am not a very good carpenter and probably never will be. We will need carpenters—that is for sure.

The Government have to rise to the challenge. I am confident that they will do so. We in the Lords should be capable of giving them advice that they will listen to.

I want to congratulate my noble friend on her brilliant maiden speech. I did not have any trouble with the accent, but then, “I’m a cockney, aren’t I?”

18:29

[Lord Hampton (CB)]

My Lords, it is always a joy to listen to the noble Lord, Lord Knight of Weymouth, whom I thank very much for securing this debate on this important topic. As ever, I declare my interest as a state secondary school teacher; it is more like “Learn with a Lord” around our place. I also greatly enjoyed the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, and welcome her to the next part of her lifelong learning journey, as everyone has been telling her.

We all know the value of lifelong learning. Professor David Snowdon’s nun study looked at the cognitive ability of nuns during their lives and analysed their brains after death. In one famous case, Sister Mary, who did sudoku every day, passed all the regular tests until her death at 102. Tests on her brain afterwards showed that she had full-blown Alzheimer’s. One explanation was something called “cognitive reserve”, the idea that lifelong learning can strengthen protective neurons, so that they, in effect, create patches around the damage to our brains that happens as we age; the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, touched on that. Think of the savings to the NHS if we can decrease the effects of brain deterioration.

I would say that I have been quite a good example of lifelong learning so far. After my degree, I took evening classes. I learned to ski and became a ski photographer. I learned Italian and married an Italian. I did courses to become a level 2 cricket coach. I retrained as a teacher on the School Direct scheme. I taught myself SolidWorks and—I emphasise this to the noble Baroness, Lady Barran—Excel. Working in the House of Lords has been a steep learning curve, particularly if you forget Lord Judge’s 75-word rule when asking questions. There was very little formal training there, certainly at college.

Derek Lewis, a friend of mine and chair of UHI North, West and Hebrides, says:

“Lifelong learning is now a necessity rather than an option because the pace of change in science and technology in particular makes the notion of a qualification for life nonsensical”.


Here we have a problem. I am confident that I know where I can get the training that I need. However, the Association of Colleges complains that the majority of adult learning takes place among those who are already educated to a certain level. Those with poor basic skills are least likely to seek support to address their basic skills needs, as the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, riffed. As the noble Lord, Lord Knight, said, we need everyone to be able to access the type of learning that they need. Perhaps the Government could look at learning mentors, who could guide people through their long-term learning journey in the way they do with teachers—or at least, perhaps, a lifelong learning number. Perhaps the Minister could comment on that.

What about the sheer enjoyment of learning, which can lift people out of loneliness and poor mental health? That is where charities such as the Men’s Sheds Association can help: in reducing the stubborn numbers of male suicide. If we can get people learning and keep people learning, whether formally or informally, the societal and financial benefits will be immeasurable. We should all strive to be a Sister Mary.

18:32

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for securing this debate; I felt that I was honoured to be listening to a first-class university lecture. Like the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, I have been inspired by many of the contributions today; it makes me quite worried about what I am going to say. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, on her inspiring maiden speech; I look forward to her future contributions.

We already know that education does not stop at 16, 18 or 21; it cannot be packaged into a few years and then set aside. We are all constantly doing it—every day is a school day, after all. Lifelong learning is just that: learning for life. I applaud any attempt to encourage this pursuit. Plenty of evidence suggests that lifelong learning positively impacts our communities. The Social Mobility Commission has emphasised that learning leads to better employment prospects. The Learning and Work Institute has demonstrated that lifelong learning has personal benefits, increasing individuals’ life satisfaction and, in many cases, improving mental health—an important consideration given the current mental health crisis.

As we have heard today, there are many personal, social and economic values that lifelong learning offers. Proposals to increase the access to funding for adult learning are an important step in the right direction, and it is clear that there is a push for increasing access to improving skills-based learning opportunities. After all, we are faced with a skills shortage across the country. The nation needs teachers, nurses, construction workers and many more. Lifelong learning may provide an opportunity to fill those gaps, to give those out of work, or those looking for a shift in a career, an opportunity to excel in a new environment.

As the Open University has informed me, older workers are the key to tackling skills gaps, especially in the public sector; yet currently, older members of society are the group least likely to participate in lifelong learning. More broadly, the number of those accessing lifelong learning is dwindling. Although there was a 0.7% increase in the number of learners in 2023-24 compared with 2022, this is still less than a third of the figures from the early 2010s, when over 3 million adults participated in adult education. If we are making funding available, and recognising the multiple benefits of lifelong learning, why do the numbers of those accessing adult learning remain so low?

Perhaps the answer is one that I raised before on this issue several years ago: the issue of physical access to learning environments. Many councils have explained that a key reason for declining numbers of adult learners is the lack of access that adults have to learning centres. They are too far away for people to attend. Adults might be inspired to retrain for a new skill, but if the classes are over an hour away, no amount of government funding is going to make learning more feasible or appealing to adults balancing everyday life.

Distance learning is a plausible solution to this issue and one that the Open University has modelled in its successful online degree programmes. There is also the changing landscape of how people want to learn. The trend towards online learning is undeniable. More and more people are looking for flexible, digital-first options that fit around their jobs, families and daily lives. We can look to Birbeck University here in London as a champion of this endeavour, with its promotion of short-term courses and evening classes—a key example of arranging lifelong learning around the needs of the learner.

The importance of the learner when advocating for lifelong learning is maybe something we have overlooked. I commend the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for referencing the personal value that lifelong learning may offer. The Government seem keen to align lifelong learning with the needs of the economy, which is commendable: we do, of course, want a workforce prepared for the challenges ahead. However, let us not lose sight of the individual learners themselves. Yes, lifelong learning should equip people with the skills that businesses and industries need, but it must also empower individuals, giving them the tools to grow, adapt, and fulfil their own hopes and dreams.

Truly effective lifelong learning serves not just the economy but the people who make up that economy. Learning, therefore, may encompass a broad range of skills, from woodwork to flower arranging or creative writing to drawing. Of course, in the past, universities have played an important part in supporting this through their extramural departments, many of which have now been replaced by skills-based short courses. We should actively encourage these endeavours and think more broadly about the benefits of fostering an environment that supports personal development alongside economic growth.

There is a lifelong learning issue which has irritated me for quite a while. I was recently elected a city councillor in Liverpool and, to my shock, everything for local residents is done online, to save money. Poor, elderly people, often in their late 80s, struggle to report issues or contact the council because they do not even know how to access the internet; yet the council, for very good reasons—it does not have the money—is not able to provide the training opportunities in the public libraries, which would actually serve and provide lifelong learning for those elderly people.

Finally, what about those who miss out on education —those who decide to enter the workforce at 16 and never receive their two years of free universal education? Could we look towards providing this later in life through grants covering the cost of further education, rather than loans for those who missed this opportunity for learning? Loans often stand as a barrier to learning, with prospective students worried about the burden of rising debt. Instead, let us think bigger and bolder. Let us not stop at funding, but also address access through digital innovation and support flexibility by embracing learning in all its forms, regardless of subject or interest. Investing in lifelong learning means investing in people, and that is something I am sure we are all keen to support.

18:39

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on his tour de force opening speech. It fitted into the renaissance man—or maybe we should say renaissance woman—pattern in its breadth and insight, and it was a pleasure to listen to. I also, of course, welcome the maiden speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, who talked about the opportunity one has in politics to change lives. We heard some examples about how she has already done that, and I am sure she will do more. We look forward to working with her.

I echo the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, about the dignity of some of what we have heard, including from the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich. With the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, having moved to a very successful career in riffing, I am going to take the pedestrian speaking slot which other noble Lords have left open. It is possibly because I am a bit damaged by having taken some legislation through this House that aimed to underpin lifelong learning. I hope the Minister will forgive me if I have some questions on where we are at and where we are going with that.

Of course, the principle of offering students, in the case of the lifelong learning entitlement, up to the age of 60 a tuition-free loan which gives them entitlement to four years of full-time education is widely welcomed, and we know that that is for a number of reasons. We all, I think, hope that it will allow those who might not embark on a three-year qualification to get staging-post qualifications to whatever level is right for them—in many cases, they might go all the way. It also offers those already in the workforce the chance to upskill, retrain and get high-quality qualifications. We heard from my noble friend Lady Morgan of Cotes and others about the number who change sectors or careers each year. Those two things, we all hope, will address the skills gaps that we have in our economy.

When we were in government we lived through one delay in the launch of the LLE. The noble Baroness has lived through another, but perhaps she can give the House some reassurance that applications will start from September 2026. Of course, some big tasks need to be done before the LLE can go live. The first is setting up all the systems within the Student Loans Company. I know, having worked closely with the Student Loans Company, how seriously it takes its responsibilities in this area, but it is a truly complex process. The second is to understand the Government’s vision for the LLE and how—as we heard from the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, and others—it will attract the types of learners who have not traditionally accessed lifelong learning and higher qualifications. It would be really interesting to hear where the Minister’s thinking is on this and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Wolf, said, what the incentives will be to drive those behaviours.

I remember trying—not altogether seriously, but just to test it out—to apply for one of the pilots that we ran when we were in government. It was almost impossible, despite Google’s best efforts, to find even the application form, so thinking about making it visible and accessible is important. I think we all fear that we will end up, in five or 10 years’ time, with the vast majority of people still doing three-year, full-time courses. You have to be quite brave to do a course that no one has done before, possibly at an institution where none of your friends, family or people you know have studied. That need for focus and tenacity to make this work will be so important, but the prize, as we have heard from across the House this afternoon, is obviously a huge one.

It would be helpful to hear the Minister’s thoughts on how the Government are going to track progress. We will stretch her talents, as a “Mastermind” winner—as she was unwise enough to disclose to those of your Lordships who were in the House last night—in a different way and invite her to paint a picture of what a successful higher and further education system would look like once the LLE is fully implemented.

I wonder whether the Minister could say a word about how the Government think that opportunities for skills development can be promoted regionally. I was very struck when I was campaigning in the election in the summer—in seats that were apparently marginal but perhaps turned out to be slightly less marginal than we had hoped—that there were streets I walked along where I felt that, if I lived on that street, I would not have much hope, including for my children. As the noble Lord, Lord Knight, rightly said, this is where populism breeds if we do not have hope for the future. It is extremely important that that regional perspective is prioritised. We made some steps towards that in government, particularly through the institutes of technology that we established, which brought together colleges, universities and employers with a regional focus. I hope the Minister can reassure me that the Government are going to continue supporting those and not waste the investment that was made in them.

The Minister will be aware that some institutions are concerned about how the current regulatory system—I told noble Lords my speech was going to be pedestrian—will fit with the LLE. This is important. As the Minister knows, the continuation metric that the Office for Students looks at perhaps lends itself less well to an approach where students are doing shorter courses, then leaving education for a while and restarting. I assume that she will be able to provide reassurance that that is being reviewed ahead of the rollout. Also, could she say a word on maintenance support?

I think the Minister will be aware of unhappiness in the sector about historic underspends in the adult education budget. My understanding is that the evidence is that the mayoral combined authorities have been more effective in disbursing all their money, although I think the noble Lord, Lord Knight, was hinting that all might not be well in that department. Maybe the Minister could comment on that.

In closing, I will pick up on a few remarks made by your Lordships. My noble friend Lady Morgan of Cotes talked about the work that the Careers & Enterprise Company does in building confidence, about our attitude to lifelong learning, and about making it the cultural norm that you learn through life wherever you were born and whatever advantages you did or did not have. All of us want to be Sister Mary—I am hoping that Wordle and Quordle, including Quordle Extreme, as well as sudoku, qualify me for avoiding dementia. I also want to pick up on the joy of lifelong learning that the noble Lord, Lord Bates, talked about. My husband, who is also in his 70s, started a part-time degree. When filling out his UCAS form, he struggled a bit to explain how he was going to use it, but he did focus on joy.

I look forward very much to hearing the Minister’s remarks.

18:50

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)]

My Lords, this being my fifth appearance at this Dispatch Box in the last two days, I was feeling marginally jaded before this debate, but I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, that I am certainly not grumpy. I have been inspired by the quality of the debate, which started, of course, with the ambitious and wide-ranging vision set down by my noble friend Lord Knight of Weymouth. I thank him for bringing forward this debate with the opportunity for inspiration it has given us.

I also congratulate my noble friend Lady Curran on her excellent maiden speech. I was pleased to hear her talk about her international work on women’s development and participation, on which I was able to work with her in Lebanon. I thought we had become friends, so I was a bit concerned about her comments about Chief Whips, which, of course, I have been in the past, but I feel absolute confident that she will make an enormous contribution in this, her third Chamber. I know that her family will be enormously proud of her for everything she has achieved and, I am sure, will achieve in this Chamber.

As many noble Lords have said, lifelong learning is the continuous, self-motivated pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, insight and skills. It is the joy of asking questions, the thrill of gaining new perspectives, the unquenchable thirst for understanding, and the satisfaction of personal growth. It is not merely the pursuit of knowledge, important though that is.

Noble Lords also emphasised the breadth of the benefits from lifelong learning. I will start with the economic value. Economically, the value of lifelong learning cannot be overstated. Indeed, as a Government whose number one mission is economic growth, we are clear that growth will allow us to fix the foundations and rebuild Britain. It will fund our public services, bring investment to hospitals and schools, provide good jobs for more people, and, most importantly, raise living standards for everyone. But that will require us to invest in the human capital, as several noble Lords have argued, as well as the physical capital. It will also require us to respond to the change we see in our economy. Several noble Lords have commented on how industries are constantly changing and churning. Old jobs are dying and new ones are sprouting. New technologies are springing up, societal norms are progressing and maturing, and the volume of information available to us is proliferating at an unprecedented pace, so we must prepare for the future of our economy, not just for today.

Even today, over a third of job vacancies are due to skills shortages and 5.7% of the workforce has a skills gap. With an ageing population—I noted the willingness of Members of your Lordship’s House to focus on the older end of the age range, but they are absolutely right—in an ever-evolving economy that is undergoing an acceleration of automation and artificial intelligence, as the noble Lord, Lord Elliott, identified, the ability to learn and adapt is not just a valuable skill but a critical necessity for survival and success. To reiterate that point, 7% of UK jobs face a high probability of automation by 2030, rising to a staggering 18% by 2035, so economic change is necessitating an ever-increasing need for lifelong learning—and quite rightly, I have suggested.

The noble Lord, Lord Bichard, the first Permanent Secretary who I worked with as a Minister, and the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, both rightly argued that the direct relationship between economic growth and a well-educated and skilled workforce means that we need to keep persuading our colleagues in the Treasury about the contribution that human capital and skills make to productivity. Noble Lords can be assured that that is a case that we make and will continue to make in the run up to the next spending revue.

We learned as well that longer life expectancy means that many people may need or want to work longer, and those who continue to learn and reskill will stay ahead of the curve, capable of meeting the demands of tomorrow. At this point, I have to give the noble Lord, Lord Bates, every good wish with his PhD and also the husband of the noble Baroness, Lady Barran. It is creditable to see the way in which people are continuing to study as they get older.

To return to economic significance, that is why this Government are devising an innovative and fit-for-the-future industrial strategy. We will ensure that, alongside that strategy aimed at delivering and investing in the high-growth sectors that will enable our economy to grow, we will encourage our workforce to continually learn, develop and adapt. We will not just be investing in individuals and the specific occupations necessary for delivering that industrial strategy but also enabling our economy to grow in that ever-changing landscape to procure a prosperous future for our communities, economy and nation.

Several noble Lords also talked rightly about the social value of lifelong learning because it cultivates a vibrant community. Noble Lords will know—several cited studies that show it—that lifelong learning is associated with higher levels of interpersonal and social trust, social connections and community engagement. It leads to greater social cohesion and integration and an appreciation for different religions and nationalities. It fosters civic spirit, too, particularly regarding local involvement and volunteering and democratic participation, a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett. It has also been shown positively to improve individuals’ political understanding and engagement. There is also clear evidence of the links between improving levels of education and reductions in crime and anti-social behaviour. These benefits make lifelong learning a huge harvester of social value, bridging gaps and transforming the lives of the many who engage with it.

On the individual level, lifelong learning is a key ingredient for self-fulfilment and personal growth, as we have heard from many noble Lords this afternoon. It is the key route to ensuring that talent meets opportunity and that your success is not determined by your background. That is why this Government are determined to break down barriers to opportunity. It is not often that you get a riffing Lord and a reference to Mick Jagger in the same debate, but the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, is the Mick Jagger of our Chamber today. More significantly, he also focused on the need to ensure that lifelong learning benefits those who are most disadvantaged and furthest from learning. He was right to draw our attention to young people who are not in education, employment or training. Of course, this Government’s youth guarantee is an important way of ensuring that opportunities are available to reduce the number of young people who fall into that group.

Our opportunity mission is aimed at breaking the link between a child’s background and their future success so that whoever you are and wherever you are from hard work will mean that you can get on in life. Whether that is by the traditional academic route through a degree or by acquiring new skills or retraining, it opens doors to new opportunities and enables and empowers individuals to unlock their full potential.

Learning also leads to better outcomes, individually and socially. Indeed, according to the OECD, better educated individuals live healthier and longer lives, as identified by the noble Lord, Lord Hampton. Having a degree reduces chances of excessive drinking, smoking and obesity—although perhaps not during your time at university. Graduates have better physical and mental well-being, and lifelong learning fosters an individual sense of identity and resilience, helping to deepen a sense of one’s purpose in life. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich, who has apologised for having a booked train that he has to catch, made that case very strongly.

I also thank my noble friend Lord Blunkett, who has a proud record of focusing on lifelong learning and adult learning. I will come back to that in a moment. Along with the right reverend Prelate and other noble Lords, he focused on the diversity of provision for lifelong learning. It is, importantly, about state-funded provision but it is also about a whole range of other provision. There is the contribution of faith, as the right reverend Prelate outlined, and of our trade unions—the noble Lord, Lord Monks, was right to identify the contribution of the union learning fund. At a time when employer investment in training is falling, it is important for this Government to think about how we can bring together the contribution of unions alongside employers to ensure more investment and more ability for people in the workplace to have the skills development they need. There is also the Workers’ Educational Association. At the end of his teaching career, my father enjoyed his contribution to teaching in the WEA.

All these points make us focus on what the Government can do to ensure that there is commitment to and investment in the development of lifelong learning. We need to ensure that children and young people in our primary and secondary schools can engage in a wide-ranging and multidisciplinary curriculum, which is the objective of the curriculum and assessment review. The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, identified the importance of careers, and I thank her for her work in and leadership of the Careers & Enterprise Company, which is making an important contribution, helping this Government to deliver on our commitment to two weeks of work experience, and to 1,000 additional careers advisers to develop the National Careers Service to provide people with the information necessary, throughout life, to be able to make those changes and have that opportunity to learn.

We will bring forward a post-16 strategy, which will more broadly describe the post-16 education and skills system that we want to see. We will consider how we deliver the skills that our country needs, now and in the future, and how we build a stronger skills system where everyone is supported to thrive in life and work, with the right support for reskilling to meet the challenging needs of the economy. This will include how we create a culture of lifelong learning by building clear and coherent pathways for learners of all ages, and increasing co-operation among skills partners within a framework of clearly defined roles and responsibilities. We will publish a vision paper for this strategy shortly and engage widely with all partners across the system to make this vision a reality and ensure that we develop a culture of skills and lifelong learning.

I recognise the points noble Lords made about our wide-ranging and remarkably diverse further education sector. As several noble Lords mentioned, we often see our FE colleges as the heart of our communities and as a magnet for businesses, opening up partnerships with employers to develop skills.

Our internationally renowned universities—the UK continues to place prominently in the top 10 and the top 100 academic institutions worldwide—are important. They deserve the commitment this Government have made to a sustainable funding model and reform. Everybody, not only students, benefits from a flourishing higher education sector. But we need to make sure that we broaden access to and participation in HE.

Several noble Lords rightly pushed the Government on the development of the lifelong learning entitlement. Our ever-evolving economy and its dynamic workforce need a higher education system that offers different types of provision to suit different individuals. That is why, as part of the Government’s work, we are introducing the lifelong learning entitlement, which will deliver much-needed transformational change to the current student finance system.

Quite rightly, the noble Baronesses, Lady Barran and Lady Wolf, and the noble Lord, Lord Bichard, wanted me to reiterate our commitment to delivering the LLE, as announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. I can assure noble Lords that we are working to launch the LLE in the 2026-27 academic year. The slight delay will allow us to improve its impact and effectiveness by ensuring that the policy and design fully align with the Government’s vision. It will enable us to refine our delivery and implementation plans, including, as the noble Baroness said, the work of the Student Loans Company in preparing for it.

Importantly, in terms of innovation, I strongly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Storey, and others, that this needs to be an opportunity to ensure that we are not simply paying for a longer period of time in the same provision, but that we are giving education providers the push and the time to prepare innovative ways for people to access higher education. That is the opportunity of the lifelong learning entitlement. It is one that I am determined that we should push higher education providers to fully recognise.

In relation to skills, we must utilise local skills improvement plans, apprenticeships, and the growth and skills levy, as mentioned by my noble friend Lord Young, to equip people with the skills needed to not only survive but thrive. I am looking forward to bringing forward more information about how the growth and skills levy will provide some of the flexibility to enable more employers to use it and more learners to develop the skills they need from it.

The noble Baroness, Lady Barran, made an important point about how we promote skills. I am sure noble Lords are looking forward to next week, which is National Apprenticeship Week, when we will be able to promote particularly the benefits of apprenticeships. As we discussed only yesterday, we are determined that Skills England will help us unify the skills landscape and ensure that the workforce is equipped with the skills required to raise economic growth.

We must foster adult learning through the adult skills fund—notwithstanding some of the difficult decisions that we are having to make about the funding of adult skills. We are absolutely determined that adult skills continue to bear fruit, not only in supporting adult learners to gain the literacy, numeracy, digital and vocational skills that they need for meaningful employment but to drive sustained economic growth and innovation and to deliver the health, well-being and pleasure that many noble Lords have talked about being a result of lifelong learning.

It is the case that we need more devolution so that the nations and regions can make effective decisions about education which best reflect their needs. This will ensure value for money in spending resources and enable localised benefits in the opportunities of adult learning.

I hope I can reassure my noble friend Lord Blunkett on residential colleges. We recognise the important contribution that these colleges make to our system. They will feature as part of our discussions with mayoral authorities.

I finish by thanking noble Lords for the enthusiasm that they have shown for lifelong learning throughout the whole range of areas that we have covered. I assure them of this Government’s absolute commitment to ensuring that lifelong learning remains and develops as an essential part of this country’s educational offer: to offer young people, adults and the older ones among us the opportunity to learn, upskill, retrain and develop throughout the whole of their lives.

19:10

[Lord Knight of Weymouth (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to all the speakers in this excellent debate, who were expertly responded to by my noble friend the Minister. I am grateful for the kind words that some have said to me about my speech. I love the passion for lifelong learning that we heard all around the Chamber, and the sense of the widespread returns on investment—to use the words of the noble Lord, Lord Bichard.

The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, focused on the key question of how we get to the hardest to reach. He has modelled taking the plunge and the risk of learning to do something new by getting on with it, and he pulled it off very well. Perhaps the answer to his question lies in taking the learning to where people are. My noble friends Lord Blunkett and Lord Monks reminded us that taking it into the workplace is one of the ways to achieve that. I am interested in what the DWP is trying to do with regard to how it can define job centres as a place where people can access skills and learning too.

I want to finish—and let those who have not already done so catch their trains—with my noble friend Lady Curran. She said that the measure of politics is lives changed. If the Government get this right, they can, in her words, release reservoirs of ability and energy into the economy and society.

Motion agreed.

House adjourned at 7.12 pm.