Commons Chamber

Tuesday 25th February 2025

(began 1 day, 16 hours ago)

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11:35
None Portrait Q1. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of President Trump's proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring Arab states. (902800)
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**** Possible New Speaker ****

Questions Questions to Questions to the Questions to the Secretary Questions to the Secretary of State.
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None Portrait Q7. What steps his Department is taking to support women and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. (902807)
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Thank you Mr Speaker. Question number seven.
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None Portrait Q11. What steps he is taking with his international counterparts to help de-escalate the conflict in Sudan. (902812)
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Our policy on reparations is clear. We do not pay them.
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Keir Starmer Portrait Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP, The Prime Minister (Holborn and St Pancras, Labour)
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Can I begin by giving my word to this House that this was not given I will absolutely have an enquiry into this. But I would not be that discourteous. I spoke to you this morning, Mr Speaker. I would not be discourteous to you all the Leader of the Opposition or to the House in that way. I give you that assurance from this despatch box and I apologise to the Leader of the Opposition and will make that enquiry. Three years since Russia launched a vile assault on Ukraine, I would like to address the international situation of the implication for British national security.

In my first week as Prime Minister, I travelled to the NATO Summit in Washington with a simple message. That NATO and our allies could trust this government to fulfil Britain and indeed the Labour Party's historic role to put collective security first. I spoke of my great tried to lead the party that was a founding member of NATO. The inheritor of the legacy of Clement Attlee and Ernest Bevan. Who not only stood behind Winston Churchill in wartime, but one the piece by establishing the great post-war order here and abroad.

It is a proud legacy. But in a world like ours, it is also a heavy one. Because the historical load we must carry to fulfil our duty is not as We must bend our backs across this house. Because of these times demand a united Britain. We must deploy all of our resources to achieve security. Mr Speaker, as a young man, I vividly remember the Berlin Wall coming down. It felt as if we were casting off the shackles of history.

United by freedom and democracy. If you had told me then that in my lifetime, we would see Russian tanks rolling into European cities again, I would not have believed you. Yet here we are. In a world where everything has changed. Because three years ago, that is exactly what happened. Britain can be proud of our response. British families opened their doors to fleeing Ukrainians. The yellow and light blue fluttering on town halls and churches the length and breadth of this country.

And the party opposite in government was robust in our response. I supported that in opposition. I applaud them for it opposition. I applaud them for it now. We have built on that. Bringing our support for Ukraine to a record level this year. We should not pretend that any of this has been easy. Working people have already felt the cost of Russian actions through rising prices and bills. Nonetheless one of the great lessons of history is that instability in Europe will always wash up on our shores.

And that tyrants like Putin only respond to strength. Russia is a menace in our waters, airspace and on our streets. They have launched cyberattacks on our NHS. Only seven years ago a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury. We must stand by Ukraine. Because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability connected to our security will only grow. And so as the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper it brings our response into sharper focus.

A new era which we must meet as we have so often in the past, together and with strength. The fundamentals of British strategy are unchanged. I know that the current moment is volatile. But there is still no good reason why they cannot endure. Let me spell out to the House exactly how we will renew them for these times. First, NATO is the bedrock of our security and will remain so. It has brought peace for 75 years. It is as important today as the day on which it was founded.

Putin thought he would weaken NATO. He has achieved the exact opposite. It remains the organisation that receives the vast bulk of our defence effort in every domain and that must continue. Second, we must reject any false choice between our allies. Between one side of the Atlantic or the other. That is against our history. Country and party. Because it is against our fundamental national interest. The US is our most important bilateral alliance. It straddles everything from nuclear technology, to NATO, Five Eyes, AUKUS and beyond.

It has survived countless external challenges in the past. We have fought wars together. We are the closest partners in trade, growth and security. This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear that I want this relationship to go from strength to strength. But Mr Speaker, strength in this world also depends upon a new alliance with Europe. As I said in Paris last week, our commitment to European defence and security is unwavering. But now is the time to deepen it.

We will find new ways to work together on collective interests and threats, protecting our borders, bringing companies together, seeking out new opportunities for growth. Third, Mr Speaker, we seek peace and not conflict. We believe in the power of diplomacy to deliver to that end. That of course is most pressing in Ukraine. Nobody in this House or this country wants bloodshed to continue. Nobody. Mr Speaker, I have seen the devastation in Ukraine first hand.

What you see in some parts of Ukraine never leaves you. For peace to endure in Ukraine and For peace to endure in Ukraine and beyond, we need deterrence stop I know this House will endorse the principle of winning peace through strength. We will continue to stand behind the people of Ukraine. We must make sure we helped to negotiate their future and continue to put them in the strongest position for a lasting peace. Fourth, we must change our national security posture.

Because a generational challenge requires a generational response. That will demand some extremely difficult and painful choices. As hard as those choices are, we must also seek unity. A whole society effort that will reach into the lives and industries and homes of the British people. I started this statement by recalling the era of Attlee and Bevan. This year we will mark many anniversaries of that greatest generation. We must find courage in our history. Courage in who we are as a nation.

Because courage is what our own era demands of us now. Starting today, ICANN announced this government will begin the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. We will deliver our commitment to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence but we will bring it forward so we reach that level in 2027. We will maintain that for the rest of this Parliament. Let me spell that out, Mr Speaker, that means £13.4 billion more spent on defence every year more spent on defence every year from 2027.

But we also face enemies that are sophisticated in cyberattacks, sabotage and even assassination. Our intelligence and security services are an increasingly vital tool to protect us and our allies. So on top of the funding of 2.5% I have just announced, going forward, we will recognise the incredible contribution of our intelligence and security services to the defence of the nation which means taken together, we will be spending 2.6% on our defence from 2027. But Mr Speaker, we must go further still.

I have long argued in the face of ongoing generational challenges, all European allies must step up. To do European allies must step up. To do So subject to economic and fiscal conditions, and aligned with our strategic and operational lead, we will also set out a clear ambition for defence spending to rise to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament. I want to be very clear that the nature of warfare has changed significantly. That is clear from the battlefield in Ukraine.

We must modernise and reform our capabilities as we invest. I equally want to be clear that like any other investment we make, we must seek value for money and that is why we are putting in place a new defence reform and efficiency plan jointly led by my Right Honourable friends, the Chancellor and the Defence Secretary. This investment means the UK will strengthen its position as a leader in NATO and in the collective defence of our continent. We should welcome that role.

It is good for our national security. It is also good for the defining mission of this government to restore growth to the economy and we should be optimistic on what it can deliver in those terms. But in the short-term, it can only be funded through hard choices. And in this case, that means we will cut our spending on development assistance, moving from 0.5% today down to 0.3% in 2027. Fully funding the increased investment in defence.

I want to be clear to the House that is not an announcement I am happy to make. I'm proud of our record on overseas development. We will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza. Tackling climate change, supporting multinational efforts on global health and challenges such as vaccination. In recent years, the development budget was redirected towards paying for the asylum backlog and as we clear that backlog at a record pace, there are efficiencies that will reduce the need to cut spending on overseas programs.

Nonetheless it remains a cut and I will not pretend otherwise. We will do everything we can to return to a world where that is not the case and rebuild on development. But at times like this, the defence and security of the British people must always come first. That is the number one first. That is the number one Hole approach to national security must now change. We will have to ask British industry, British universities, British businesses, and the British people to play a bigger part.

Use this to renew the social contract of our nation. The right and responsibility that we are one another. The first test of our defence policy is of course if it keeps our country safe. But the second should be whether it improves the conditions of the British people. Does it help provide the economic security that working people need? Ultimately, as Attlee and Bevan new, that is fundamental to national security as well. We will use this investment as an opportunity. We will translate defence spending into British growth, British jobs, British skills, British innovation.

We will use the full powers of the procurement to rebuild our industrial base. And as that Strategic Defence Review is well underway, across government we are conducting a number of other reviews relevant to national security. It is obvious that these reviews must pull together. So before the NATO summit in June, we will publish a single National Security Strategy. And we will bring it to this house because, as I said earlier, that is how we must meet the threats of our age.

Together, and with strength. A new approach to defence. A revival of our industrial base. A deepening of our alliances. The instruments of our national power brought together, creating opportunity, assuring our allies, delivering security for our country. At moments like these in our past, Britain has stood up to be counted. It has come together. And it has demonstrated strength. That is what the security of our country needs now. It is what this government will deliver. I commend this statement to the house.
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Kemi Badenoch Portrait Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex, Conservative)
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Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch. Prime Minister for the partial copy of his statement and now that I have heard the unredacted bits I must welcome his response and his fulsome support for Ukraine. This weekend marks a grim milestone. It is now three years since Putin's invasion, the Conservative party stands resolutely with the people of Ukraine. Our hearts are with those still caught up in this conflict, as we remember the many innocent lives lost.

I will always be proud to support the last Conservative government gave in the run-up to Putin's invasion. And those first crucial weeks and months of the war. We help prevent Kyiv falling, we supported Ukraine in regaining territory initially lost to Russia. But it is also true that overall the West has not done enough to support Ukraine. As has been the case from the outset, it remains ultimately for Ukraine, as a proud and sovereign nation, that has sacrificed so much to defend itself and the fundamental freedoms that we all hold dear, it is up to them to decide their future.

So we want this terrible war to end. Ukraine needs to be at the negotiating table. Like President Zelensky, we hope for a lasting reliable piece. But the West must continue to be intensely robust in the face of Putin's aggression. The lesson of the last 20 years is clear. He only comes back for more. The first duty of every government is to protect its people. That means a strong state that stands up to our national interest. Policies should seek to support our national interest.

National interest should always come first. So I'm very pleased to hear the Prime Minister announced that increased to 2.5% by 2027. All of us on this side of the house welcome that. We have all wanted to see more spending on defence. I would ask the Prime Minister, on including the intelligence budget, can you confirm that this is new money for the intelligence services? Does this mean that there will be new money in the next financial year? The Prime Minister will note that I wrote to him at the weekend with suggestions on what we could do to help with increasing defence spending.

So I welcome his announcement on repurchasing money from the Overseas Development Aid budget. It is right. And I look forward to him taking up my other suggestion of looking at what we can do on welfare. He will know we had a fully funded plan we urge him to take it up. Having said that, can the Prime Minister say in confidence that 2.7%, that's 2.5% by 2027 sufficient? Because we need to look at exactly how we found this. He must not raise taxes further because it will destroy our economy.

We need a strong economy to pay for defence was he cannot borrow more. We are already spending more on debt interest than defence. We all know he must make difficult decisions on spending. He has our support to do that. In his statement, the Prime Minister also told us about his new value for money defence reform and efficiency plan. Does he agree that the first thing that must be looked at is spending billions of taxpayers money leasing back a defence base Diego Garcia that we currently own? Why is the Prime Minister that still pursuing this deal? Earlier today, I made a speech about the realism that should drive our foreign policy.

As part of this, the Prime Minister that must scrap his disastrous plan to surrender the Chagos Islands. And have written pay for the privilege was the key difference between those of us on this side of the house and the Labour Party is that we know we need a strong economy for defence. We need a serious plan to get the British economy growing again. We do not have that with the latest budget from the Chancellor. Can the Prime Minister tell us if there is going to be a fiscal event this spring, even though his government is committed to only one fiscal event a year? In summary, the Prime Minister made four points.

I agree with him that NATO is a bedrock of our security, as I said this morning. And I agree that the US is our most important bilateral relationship. Friends telling them that they disagree. We agree on this issue for top we know that Ukraine must be supported and I share the concerns the Prime Minister had about statements that have been made about resident Zelensky. I agree with the promise of protecting security in Europe and I welcome continuing to strengthen our alliances. But we must do that from NATO building on the joint expeditionary force approach will stop and we agree that we need peace with Ukraine agreed.

I don't necessarily agree with his changing the national security posture because we have different views on this. I am a conservative realist not a progressive internationalist. But I wanted to know that when he does the right thing, we will work with him. In the national interest. national interest.
12:54
Keir Starmer Portrait Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP, The Prime Minister (Holborn and St Pancras, Labour)
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Can I first thanked her for her support in relation to today's announcement and her support on Ukraine. That is important to the government. It is important to the house. But mostly it is important to the Ukrainians. Two President Zelensky, because they want to seek unity in our house. They value unity in our house as they enter after three years of conflict, a very difficult stage of the war with Russia and the Russian aggression. I hope and believe we can maintain that unity in relation to Ukraine.

We have full three years and I'm very proud this house is done that, notwithstanding a change of government, for three long years. We will continue to do so. Just about the money on defence and security and intelligence. It was new money in the budget in relation to that what I'm doing here is in addition to the 2.5% which is the increase in defence spending as it has always been understood, is to recognise that the nature of the threats to our country are different now, and that the security and intelligence services play a key part for us and for our allies in our defence.

That takes the total to 2.6%. She asks me if we will tax to pay for the 2.5% or to borrow to pay for it. The answer to that is no, she is why I have set out precisely pound-for- pound how we will pay for it today. That has meant a very difficult position on overseas development. A very difficult decision. And not a decision that I wanted to take or I am happy to take. But it is important that we explain where the money will come from in terms and explain where it is coming from today.

I was only ever going to come to the house with a plan with a timeline in it, a percentage in it and in answer to the question, how you will pay for it. I would not come to the house with a fanciful plan. She says they had a plan, she says of course we did. The Institute of government said, of their pledge for 2.5% by 2030, "It does not add up, it is not a serious plan. " The Institute for Fiscal Studies called it misleading and opaque.

I'm not giving my view I'm giving the view of other bodies having looked at the plan that they put forward. They said they would fund it by cutting the civil service and an increased the civil service by 13,000. I'm not prepared to operate in that way which is why we have taken the difficult decision on Overseas Development Aid today to be absolutely clear where the money is coming from. In relation to the final point about the approach that we take here, and whether there is a difference between us, I hope not.

Because what I set out was NATO first is the bedrock of our security. I hope that is common ground, whatever we may call our respective positions. I also set out that we must not choose between the US and our European allies. That is what I fundamentally believe and I will resist that choice. I hope that is common ground between us, notwithstanding the language that she uses, because that is important, not the exchanges over this Dispatch Box but the future defence and security of our country and of Europe.

Thank you. Europe. Thank you.
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Ed Davey Portrait Rt Hon Ed Davey MP (Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat)
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I thank the Prime Minister for the advanced sight of his statement. Three years ago, Putin began his As we watched Russian missiles raining down on Ukrainian cities, we feared he might have struck a decisive blow to Ukraine and its sovereignty. But Putin underestimated the strength of the ideals we share with our Ukrainian friends of democracy, truth and liberty. He underestimated the courage of Ukrainian soldiers who have spent three years heroically resisting Putin's war machine. Britain stood together with our allies in support of Ukraine.

Families up and down the country opened their doors wide for Ukrainian refugees. Because we know that Ukraine's fight for democracy and liberty is our fight as well. In this House together, we stood strong together. Yet three years on, the future of Ukraine and security in Europe seems even more serious. Then Washington was clearly on our side but now the United States is voting with Russia, Belarus and North Korea in the United Nations. President Trump labels president Zelenskiy a dictator but not Vladimir Putin.

After the Second World War, Britain came together with allies around the world to establish NATO, and with America agreeing to underwrite security on this continent, recognising the threat to the security of one nation was a threat to the security of all nations. The events of the last few days are clear. That era is over. We may be watching before our very eyes the betrayal of our Ukrainian allies by America. And with the potential betrayal of Europe and Britain.

We must respond. Now it is up to the United Kingdom to lead in Europe. As a nation we must seize this moment. It is for our national interest the Liberal Democrats have supported the proposals of the Prime Minister on Entering Entering a Entering a mission Entering a mission in Entering a mission in Ukraine Entering a mission in Ukraine if Entering a mission in Ukraine if a just settlement is reached. That is why we strongly support the Prime Minister raising defence spending up to 2.5%, preferably using seized Russian assets to pay for extra defence support for Ukraine.

We will scrutinise all aspects of the government spending plans carefully but I hope moving at pace up to 2.5% will mean ministers will shortly announce the reversal of the Conservative shortsighted cut of 10,000 troops from the Armed Forces. But Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister is right. We must go further. Will the Prime Minister initiate talks between all parties in this House to establish that vital consensus needed to take us to spending 3% of GDP on defence as soon as possible? The Prime Minister will know that for months we Liberal Democrats have urged the government to seize frozen Russian assets which amount to more than £20 billion and re-purpose the fund for Ukrainian defence.

Will he take immediate steps to gather European leaders and begin the seizure of Russian assets so we can support Ukraine, no matter what America does? Will he on his trip to Washington tried to persuade President Trump to do the same, to make Russia pay? The Prime Minister will know the whole country will be willing him on, hoping he might be able to persuade President Trump to change his mind on Ukraine. We on these benches think he is right to try.

But should that not work, Mr Speaker, will he be clear where the United Kingdom then stands and will he make it clear that if necessary, if absolutely necessary, it will be with Ukraine and European allies,
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Miatta Fahnbulleh Portrait Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Peckham, Labour )
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With your permission, Madame Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the action we are taking to protect families in the face of global spike in gas prices. In recent months, wholesale gas prices have risen to their highest level in two years. They are up nearly 15% compared to the previous price. -- Price gap.. It was announced it would run to five possible between April and June, we know this will be unwelcome news for families across the country, who are already worried about their bills.

But as Ofgem CEO said today, our reliance on international gas markets leads to the volatile wholesale prices, and continues to drive up bills. This week marks three years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and once again, the British people are paying the price of our country being exposed to fossil fuel markets, controlled by petro state and dictators. The truth is, every day, we remain stuck on gas, it is another day family, Finances are at risk for these price spikes.

That is why sprinting to home-grown, clean energy, is the only way to end our exposure and vulnerability as a country. In the meantime, we are determined to do all that we can to protect people, and today, I want to set out the measures we are taking. First, we want to provide greater help to the most vulnerable in time for next winter. The warm home discount gives around 3 million families £150 rebate on their energy bills. The current system provides help to those on means tested benefit, but excludes millions of people in homes not classified as hard to heat.

As a result of criteria introduced by the last government in 2022. This criteria is seen by many as arbitrary and unreliable. It means there are families in almost exactly the same circumstances with some receiving help and others not. Today, we have announced will consult on proposals to abolish this restriction, meaning all households receiving means tested benefit would be eligible for the bills support next winter. The 3 million families in the current system, to more than 6 million with our proposals.

So that one in five families in Britain would get help with their bills through this scheme. Including an additional 900,000 families with children and a total of 1.18 million households in fuel poverty. Because this government is determined to do everything in our power to help people struggling to pay their energy bills and support the most vulnerable in our society. Second, because the exposure to fossil fuels, the cost of living so bills rocket to 2,500, and families plunged into unstable debt. Debt which continues to accumulate today.

In the system we have inherited, every bill payer pays for managing this burden. We are determined to act on behalf of those in debt and all the bill payers who are paying the cost of it. So, we are working closely with Ofgem to accelerate proposals on a debt relief scheme that will support households who have built up unsustainable energy debt through the crisis and have no way of paying it. This will be an important first step to cut the cost of servicing bad energy debt, and under these plans, the target would be to reduce the debt allowance paid by all bill payers to precrisis levels.

Third, we know that one of the best answers to high bills is upgrading homes, so they are cheaper to run. So, we will shortly be announcing details around half £1 billion of funding, and of the Warm Homes Local Grant, and 1.3 billion under the warm homes so housing fund to invest in home upgrades over the coming years, and cut fuel poverty. In all, up to 300,000 households will benefit from upgrades in the next financial year, from our Warm Homes Plan. Whether it is new insulation, double glazing, heat pump, or solar panels, that is more than double the number supported the last financial year.

We are going to ensure that landlords investing in energy efficient upgrades, that will make homes warmer and bill -- Bring down the cost for tenants. It will help people in poverty, so we are doing everything we can to ensure people have the security of a home they can afford to heat. Fourth, we are clear that we are -- Lead Ofgem to use its powers to the maximum to help consumers. Challenging unlawful back billing, taking action on inaccurate bills, driving slot beta rollouts, -- Smart metre rollouts, so they have choice on how they pay for their energy.

An ensuring conversation is given for wrongful installation of prepayment metres. We are moving forward on our review of Ofgem to ensure it has the powers it needs to stand up for consumers and clampdown on poor behaviour by energy companies. Now, this set of measures, Madame Deputy Speaker, shows a government willing to use all the powers at our disposal to help protect consumers. But, important as these measures are, I must stress to the House, there is no proper solution to rising energy bills while this country remains exposed to the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets.

And that is why this government is moving at speed to deliver clean power. Lifting the unsure ban in England, consenting nearly 3 GW of solar, setting up nearly 3 GW of solar, setting up Great British Energy, delivering record-breaking renewal auction, making it significantly easier to build the next generation of nuclear power stations and getting on with the job of implementing the reforms to the planning system. Green, renewable auctions, set out in our new reaction plan. And I have to report to the House, however, despite the importance of this mission, despite the fact we are running at it, we continue to receive recommendation from the parties opposite not to speed up or slow down.

To reject solar power, reject onshore wind, reject offshore wind, reject new transition infrastructure, representations that, if we accepted, would leave us more vulnerable, more insecure, the British people paying the price. Let me tell the House, we will reject those representations. We know every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we build, every piece of transmission infrastructure we construct makes us more secure and every time the party opposite opposes these measures, they double down on their legacy of leaving this country exposed at the British This government will do whatever it takes to stand up for working people now and in the future.

Protecting families and businesses from the consequences of global events, driving forward plans to bring down bills for good and do everything in our power to support those most in need. I commend this statement of
14:17
Andrew Bowie Portrait Andrew Bowie MP (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Conservative)
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I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. Today the governor has announced an expansion of the Warm Home Discount, a change to the criteria which will see more low-income households receive a £150 payment to keep heating their homes. But for many this payment will be immediately eaten up by the increase in the energy price cap. We must be clear that the best protection for vulnerable households is to prioritise cheap energy. The announcement today is frankly a sticking plaster approach to rising energy bills.

This government fails to grasp the core issue. Our energy costs in this country are far too high. For businesses, industry, and of course for bill payers. When the Rates in 2022, now secretary of state quality national emergency, calling for an urgent freeze on energy bills, calling it a lack of leadership. Now in government, the only thing he is able to freeze as vulnerable pensioners by taking away their winter fuel allowance with no notice. Does she think this shows leadership? I know my constituents and presume he has too will be concerned about the bills rising.

Concern about inflation creeping back up, hitting 3% in January, despite the hard work done last year to bring it under control. And angry that Labour has promised to cut bills by £300 being broken. But the worst part of all of this is that this government, led by a geological zealotry from the Secretary of State is doubling down. Their obsession with going further and faster than any country in the world to meet their own self-imposed 2030 target is going to increase people's bills even further.

The renewables industry has warned that their rush to build record renewables in the next five years will push up prices and, " Consumers will lose out." The governments rush to build twice as much greater the next five years as a spin built in the last decade will increase the network cost on people's bills and the OBR has said the environment and levies will increase to 14 the environment and levies will increase to £14 million in 2013, largely driven by the hidden cost of renewables, all of which will end up on people's energy which will end up on people's energy Were not honest about Were not honest about their Were not honest about their promise to cut bills by £300 during the election.

They were not honest about their plan to take the winter fuel payment away from millions of pensioners living in poverty. And now they are not being honest with the British people about what their plans will do to our energy bills. If there is anything we have learned over the last few years, and that the cost of energy is absolutely critical to any modern economy. Cannot go on following ideology over evidence and putting political targets ahead of what will cut the cost of energy in this country. But this government is in denial.

That's why the cost analysis was commissioned when we were in office. I have to ask the Minister, when will proposals for a debt relief scheme you published? Can she confirm how much she expects levies to increase over the next five years? Were they commission a full systems cost analysis of the 2030 target due to energy bills and what she confirm how much bills will rise by before we see the £300 off we by before we see the £300 off we
14:21
Miatta Fahnbulleh Portrait Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Peckham, Labour )
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The honourable member is right, the energy prices are too high. And that we agree. And we also agree that that's worrying for families and businesses across the country. But what I point out to him is that 80% of the rise we have seen this time has been driven by wholesale prices. And I gently remind him that the reason why we are in this position, the reason why we are so exposed to global fossil fuel prices that we have no control over is because his party spent 14 years in government squandering the opportunity to accelerate the transition to clean power, squandering the opportunity to reduce our dependence on global fossil fuel prices, and leaving families across the country exposed.

The status quo is not tenable. We at the point where energy prices are at a historic high and his government. That is a status quo we are not willing to contend with. And that's the very reason, not because of ideology but because we see the obvious, as long as we are dependent on global fossil fuel prices, we will be on this rollercoaster. And that's the thing that is driving the push to clean power. The party opposite has no alternatives. We have clear alternatives.

We run to clean power but whilst we do that, we provide support for the most honourable households in the short- term. The dB scheme to answer his question, Ofgem on the process of consulting in the dB scheme as we speak, and we will support them to put that in place because we know that the debt burden has increased by 3.8 billion. And we think there is over 1.8 million households that war be supported by that. And we are absolutely committed to cutting bills.

Everything we are doing as a government is driven by the desire and that clear commitment to cut bills down. We will do that in terms of short-term measures, but critically we will do that by running clean power by 2030. We have a plan to deal with energy bills. The party opposite has a plan to slow down, do nothing and it will be slow down, do nothing and it will be the British public that pay the price.
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Vikki Slade Portrait Vikki Slade MP (Mid Dorset and North Poole, Liberal Democrat)
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I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. It's a deeply troubling that we remain so reliant on the foreign gas markets, and as a result, vulnerable people here are going to see that increase in their bills. I complete you welcome the proposals to expand the Warm Home Discount. But no one should have to choose between heating and eating. We all know that. The reality is we've got to get beyond that issue and reduce consumption, not just hand public money to our energy giants.

Lib Dems have been calling for a long time for a 10 year emergency home insulation plan, and it's disappointing that the amendment put forward by my honourable friend from South Cambridgeshire to the GB Energy bill was not taken up. I would be really grateful if I could be looked at again in any other scope. What time like me expect the upgrade to building standards for new homes and the Decent Homes Standard for existing properties, so the people are not having to consume as much electricity and gas? Until all homes are properly insulated, what progress is there on requiring all energy companies to sign up to a single social tariff, paying particular attention to those pensioners left cold after removal of the winter fuel allowance? And I was contacted by Michael from H2 eco-.

They are a company that does lots of retrofitting. And they told me about the hub grant, the affection entitled home upgrade grant, ending in March and due to be immediately replaced with continuity by the warmer homes local grant. They were told on Friday that it's not going to be continued and there was going to be a pause. Five weeks before the scheme ends with people told on the one hand people would be able to preregister and now been told there is going to be a pause.

They told me to tell you they are concerned they will lose their contractors... Sorry, not you. The contractors... Sorry, not you. The

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Minister. I apologise. Tim this view contribution, and you are just over so if you're coming to a conclusion that will be great.

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They asked me to ask the Minister, did it again, what guarantee can the Minister offer that the scheme will open immediately, not be slowed by reviews and when will you set out
14:27
Miatta Fahnbulleh Portrait Miatta Fahnbulleh MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) (Peckham, Labour )
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the long-term plans for 26? You set out because responding from the despatch box.

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from the despatch box. The honourable member is right that insulating people's homes and upgrading people's homes is the upgrading people's homes is the route by which we reduce bills and deliver homes that are warmer and cheaper to run. This is why we are absolutely committed to the ones homes plan, despite warm homes plan command rather than a pause, we are running this, so next financial year £300,000 will be upgraded commendably man from last financial year. And that's just the start of a warm homes plan.

We are working with colleagues and MLC G to bring forward the future buildings standards, and critically, we have spoken to industry, speak to installers, spoken to local government, and we are acutely aware that they should and cannot be a hiatus, so the reason we are moving forward with the grant and the warm home local housing schemes to ensure there is an hiatus. I would ask the honourable member to write with the specifics of that scheme because we are trying to design this in order to stop that first and critically on the question of the social tariff, we are clear clean power is the route by which we bear down on energy costs in the long-term.

But we will need to support the most honourable customers as we get there. There are different ways in which we can design a social tariff, and we are looking at options for how we support the most vulnerable at the moment, of which the Warm Home Discount is a key part of delivering that.
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None Portrait Presentation of Bill
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Crime and Policing Bill.
14:59
None Portrait Ten Minute Rule Motion: River Wye (Cleaning)
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Second reading what day? Tomorrow. I now go onto the ten
14:59
Jesse Norman Portrait Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP (Hereford and South Herefordshire, Conservative)
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minute rule. I called Jesse. Thank you. I beg to move that

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Thank you. I beg to move that leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to require the Secretary of State to publish and implement a plan for cleaning and improving the water quality of the River Wye and for connected purposes. As shadow Leader of the House, I am really allowed to speak on behalf of my constituents from the backbenches, so I'm sure you will understand that this ten minute rule motion is a priceless opportunity for me to highlight a vital issue of both local and national significance, the plight of the River Wye.

The Wye is one of the most beautiful and ecologically significant rivers in the UK, rising from the slopes of clean linen in mid Wales, it winds its way via Hay on Wye and on to Hereford and Ross on Wye before Simmons lack and the Severn estuary. The Wye Valley too is renowned for its beauty, a special area of conservation with two sites of special scientific interest. The river is thus a vital part, not only of the local economy in Herefordshire but of our landscape, our culture, and our heritage as a nation.

Admired since Roman times, it's one of the best places of British tourism, the origin of the movement known as the picturesque, and the inspiration for some of the finest poetry in the English language. Yet in recent years the river has faced huge environmental pressures. Particularly from high phosphate levels which have harmed water levels which have harmed water The rapid growth in certain farming sectors including poultry has brought benefits but place additional strain on the river.

Such as sewage, wastewater discharges, and land management, have also contributed to the problem. These pressures have been compounded by changes in water temperature and seasonal water flow. Many of these seasonal problems and their interactions are still not fully understood, so there is a real need for proper research. Building on the work of many, I first highlighted this issue in September 2020. From the start, I press the agencies, that is the Environment Agency, Natural England and natural resources Wales, for a collective response.

And called on them for a cross-border of all catchment long- cross-border of all catchment long- term action plan. Working with other catchment MPs at the time, invited national agencies and local councils on both sides of the border to a special meeting devoted to this issue for October 2021. I coordinated the letter from Wye MPs to have a specific spending package devoted to the Wye, in a year Spending Review. As a result, lockdown's other pandemic delays notwithstanding, was a meeting in July 2022 and the set above the Wye Phosphates Working Group, which is supported by the Phosphate commission established by the local authorities.

All these things helped to bring people and groups together. But in the course of it, I'm pleased to say we also had one major would have substance. I had a call for the proceeds of fines and water companies to be ring fenced and devoted to a new National Rivers recovery fund in November 2022. The government accepted this ring fencing. In relation to the Wye, it is important to be aware that much good work has been done on the ground. The cross-border nutrient management board has carefully assessed and put together a board, With Welsh water, it now looks as though wastewater discharges will be reported by national standards, by the early 2030s, which is still 40 slow.

The community response on both sides of the water has been magnificent. With hundreds of volunteer citizen scientists actively taking weekly water readings under meetings with friends of the Wye and other organisations. The national level, I'm sorry to say the progress in addressing these issues has been painfully slow. For years, creation of a high-level catchment white plan essential to managing this court border issue, between the Welsh and UK governments, meanwhile glittery agencies struggle to enforce environmental protections effectively. Finally, three ministerial visits, including one in Hereford in June 2023, we managed to secure publication of the River Wye At least cover the English part of the river and £35 million was reallocated from within existing DEFRA budgets to fund mitigations at the development of a long-term recovery strategy.

The then government also announced a new River champion whose job it was to leave the detailed planning work in collaboration with key stakeholders on both sides of the border. The plan for the Wye was by no means perfect but for the first time, it provided a framework and money. Money badly needed to support projects and research and a named person to help drive things forward on the ground. It was therefore deeply disappointing when a plan was dropped by the new government, after the general election, alongside the River champion.

And it is still more disappointing that the Treasury is also now going back on the previous government's commitment to ring fence money, for fines of water companies and use them for a restoration fund. That is a massive step backwards. Water companies have paid many tens of millions of pounds in fines since 2022 alone, this money should go back to saving rivers. What is to be done, Madame Deputy Speaker? Protecting and restoring the Wye requires a long- term collaborative approach as I have highlighted.

The UK and was governments, the agencies, farmers, businesses, local authorities, environmental groups and local people all have a role to play in developing the strategy that balances economic sustainability with environmental responsibility. So, while I am very glad that my colleague, the MP for North Herefordshire, is cosponsoring this bill, it is a great pity that a Wye catchment MPs have chosen not to and indeed, I do not notice the single Wye catchment MP in this House for a great sadness. This bill is clear and simple in its intent.

It will, for the first time, require the Secretary of State for DEFRA by law to publish and implemented plan for cleaning and improving the water quality of the River Wye. That is a measure that I think every MP of every constituency, inside or outside the Wye catchment, should be enthusiastic support. Solutions must include better land management, improved water treatment, effective centres for sustainable farming, stronger oversight enforcement. The Wye catchment 2025 action plan is designed to cover not just water quality but biodiversity loss and flood undergrad vulnerability, and the nutrient management board provides an important framework of public accountability, in relation to measures affecting nutrients in the water quality.

In other words, many of the key clean-up measures and mitigations are well understood. What we need now is action. We need an end to delay, we need a political leadership for ministers on both sides of the border, with a determination to address this vital national issue, with the seriousness it deserves, the funding, the £35 million cut from the plan for the Wye, to make it happen. The River Wye is a national treasure, it requires not just short-term measures, but a sustained collective effort led by the UK and was governments, to ensure this magnificent river is fully restored to health as swiftly as that can be achieved.



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The question is the right honourable member have leave to bill -- Bringing the bill. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Aye". Of the contrary, "No". The ayes have it. Who will prepare and bring in the bill?

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bill? Myself, dippy speaker. -- Deputy

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River River Wye River Wye Cleaning River Wye Cleaning Bill.

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River Wye Cleaning Bill. Second reading what today?

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Second reading what today? Fourth of July. The clerk will

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Fourth of July. The clerk will now proceed to read the orders of now proceed to read the orders of Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill Lords
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Bridget Phillipson Portrait Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, The Secretary of State for Education (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour)
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I beg to move bill be read a second time. We are a country of incredible talent and enterprise. Country of industry and invention. Our universities lead the world. Other colleges deliver excellence hundreds and thousands upon down the country. British companies founded on great ideas, exported product across the globe. Our strengths range from research to manufacturing, professional services, to creative industries. Yet there remains a wide and growing gap between where we are now and what I know our great country is capable of.

Because despite our many strengths, there are schools missing from our workforce. Schools missing by people who want to get on in life, to get better training, the land that great job, to earn a decent living. Skills missed by our employers, businesses, hospitals, labs, factories, held back. Skills missed by so many of our communities. Towns and cities left behind as industries moved on. Skills missed by our country, skills vital for the security and growth that this Labour government is so determined to deliver.

Our latest data shows us half a million vacancies sit empty simply because employers struggle to find the right staff with the right skills. The more since we started selecting the data since 2011. Half the bill is not boosted, half the opportunities not taken. A tragic waste of this countries simply cannot afford. I am sorry to say it is not surprising. We have fallen behind our neighbours higher technical qualifications. The ones that sit just below degree level but can lead to well-paid fulfilling careers as a software developer, or a civil engineer technician, or a construction site supervisor.

And then there are basic digital skills, which over 90% of employers valuing their job candidates, but which more than 7 million adults lack. Our skills Deal with people in our country are double blow, they hold back the economic growth we need to invest in public services and prosperity. They hold back the ambitions of working people who deserve the chance not just to get by, or to get on. -- But to get on. It denies them the

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opportunity, power, the freedom to choose the life they want to live. I give way to the honourable gentleman. Eime great full to the Secretary

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Eime great full to the Secretary of State for giving way. But she agreed with me that one of the difficulties is employers cannot difficulties is employers cannot spend the money on the principle -- Apprenticeship level easily and that too much of that money is retained too much of that money is retained by the Treasury and would she talk to the Chancellor to see if she could make it easier for employers

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could make it easier for employers to spend that money on training? I can ensure the honourable

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I can ensure the honourable gentleman the Chancellor is as committed as I am to making sure that we have the right skills within the economy, because without that, we will not be able to deliver the economic growth is the number one ambition of this government. But avoiding the system, into a growth in schools levy, with more experience for employers. As a step, this will include smaller duration and partnerships, making sure we are working more effectively with employers in order for our economy to grow.

I will give way to the right honourable gentleman.

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I welcome this commitment to skills she is articulating. Will she skills she is articulating. Will she recognise that too often, the advice given to young people, particularly given to young people, particularly from schools is to pursue and academic career. And I use the term academic career. And I use the term academic in the loosest possible sense, rather than to engage in practical learning. That means that whilst the shortages she describes whilst the shortages she describes are profound, there are also many people who are graduates in non- people who are graduates in non- graduate jobs and a lot of money

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with pretty useless degrees. I was almost at the point of

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I was almost at the point of saying I agree with much of what the honourable gentleman had to say, honourable gentleman had to say, then he ruined it at the end with that comment on the value of that comment on the value of university education and having the chance to gain a degree. Where I do share common cause with him is that I want to make sure all young people have a range of pathways available to them, including fantastic to them, including fantastic technical training routes, including through apprenticeships.

But also making sure young people with talent and inability are also able to take up a university course if that is the right path and right choice for them. As we were just recently celebrated National Apprenticeship Week, I took the opportunity to see across the country some of the fantastic routes that are available in areas like graphics and antinuclear, with -- And nuclear. And opportunities where young people are able to make fantastic progress.

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I will give way. I thank the Secretary of State forgiving wife I had the opportunity forgiving wife I had the opportunity to visit a college and I can agree to visit a college and I can agree on the points she is making for some pushy agree if we want to achieve the targets we want to achieve and the targets we want to achieve and get people off the street and into homes, we need to train a partnerships now and that Skills England will be part of the future?

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England will be part of the future? I agree with my honourable

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I agree with my honourable friend. I know how much he champions his constituency of Harlow across this House, the opportunities for young people to have the chance to take on new skills, including through partnership -- Apprenticeship routes, and he is right, there are fantastic opportunities and what was so heartening about some of the visits I was able to take part in during National Apprenticeship Week was to see the fantastical tradition women also playing construction. Breaking down some of those stereotypes that exist about the right opportunities that are there runs to meet with some of the amazing engineering apprentices, and amazing bricklaying apprentices as well, women who are really trailblazing in an industry that is often very male dominated.

I will give way.

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I am grateful to her for giving way. On the subject of construction, way. On the subject of construction, did she agree with me huge amount of the construction industry is made up of small employers? One of the biggest failings of the partnership -- Apprenticeship levy approach, we -- Apprenticeship levy approach, we have a 50% reductions in SMEs offering apprenticeships since the introduction of the levy, will she introduction of the levy, will she tell us how she is going to increase the number of SMEs that are able to offer apprenticeships if the major employers, the wars with the budget, how do we ensure we will increase the SMP apprenticeships?

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My honourable friend, who has had a long-standing interest in this area, and has consistently raised the challenges faced by small businesses but also the businesses but also the opportunities that are there to create more apprenticeships and training routes for young people across our country. One of the changes we set out during National changes we set out during National Apprenticeship Week was about the maths and English requirements which I think will make a big difference I think will make a big difference to employers large and small and was welcomed by business, but she was right -- But he was right to right -- But he was right to identify what was needed by smaller employers and smaller contractors to take on apprentices, that was the work Skills England wanted to take work Skills England wanted to take forward why the bill today such a crucial development.

Madame Deputy Speaker, the skills gap we face in our country, they deny the people the opportunity, the power, the freedom to choose the life they want freedom to choose the life they want to live. But it is not just today we count the cost, it limits our power to shape the careers, the economy, the society of tomorrow as well, because only with the right skills can people take control of their futures and only with the right skills system can we drive the growth of this country needs.

It is time this country took skills seriously again. No longer an afterthought, now at the centre of change. No longer a nice to have, in our driving force for opportunity. No longer neglected, now a national strength. Madame Deputy Speaker, there is much to celebrate. Plenty of colleges go above and beyond, plenty of employers ready to contribute, plenty of people eager to upskill, but our system needs reform. Too many people have been sidelined. Left without the skills to seize opportunity. One in eight young people not in employment, education or training.

We can and must do more to breakdown the barriers to learning that too many people still face. We need a system people still face. We need a system

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That figure in Stoke-on-Trent is even more stark, 22% of young people not in education implement training. We have a wonderful ecosystem of colleges, Stoke sixth form College, and University of Staffordshire but and University of Staffordshire but we also have small and medium organisations, so can she set out organisations, so can she set out how this bill will help organisations like the spa group to tap into the opportunities that he tap into the opportunities that he can get to spread his ability to help those young people into well- paid jobs in my community?

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paid jobs in my community? Grateful to my honourable friend who also names a fantastic business in his constituency and the contribution that they make. There's a lot more we need to do to support small employers to be in a strong position to benefit from apprenticeships. What this bill will do is bring together the many disparate parts of what is a very fragmented system. Where often employs cryptically smaller ones find it very hard to navigate the right way through hard to navigate the system, and aren't always clear about the best training and qualification routes in order to find the people that they need.

But also the changes we've made around English and maths in particular will allow employers, support employees to create 10,000 additional apprenticeships every single year. This was a call we heard loud and clear from employers, a simple straightforward change that will open up opportunities for people across our country that will still mean they have the English and maths standards as part of their apprenticeship but no longer held back by some of the red tape that has denied them the chance to get on in life.

The skill system we have right now is one that is too fragmented, too confusing, too tangled up across too many organisations. No single source of truth, no single organisation able to zoom out and see the big problems. No single authority able to bring the sector together to solve them. The result is a system that amounts to less than the sum of its parts. The young people, it can be hard to know where the opportunities lie. The adults looking to upskill or reskill, working people hoping for a fresh start, too often they are met with confusion, not clarity can presented with a motley mix of options when what they really need are clear pathways to great careers.

It's no better for employers. They tell us the system is difficult to navigate, slow to respond. They tell us they are too often shut out of course design, their voices too often unheard. The result is frustration, learners are frustrated, employers are frustrated, and they are right to be frustrated. Many businesses do a good job of investing in the skills of their workforce, but others simply aren't spending enough. Investment is at its lowest since 2011. Just half the EU average. We must empower businesses to reverse this trend, to invest in their employees, and for that we need to move forward.

There will always remain a strong and galvanising role for competition now and always. But where it is harmful, where it adds complexity, duplicate efforts or twists incentives, we will balance competition with supportive coordination to make sure that all parts of the system are pulling in the right direction. So here's our vision, and here is the change that we need. From the sidelines to support it, a system that supports everyone so the businesses can secure the skilled workforce that they need. From fragmented to coherent, a system defined by clear and powerful pathways to success, and towards effective coordination, a system of partnership with everyone pulling together towards the same goals.

This is the change that Skills England will oversee. This Labour government is a mission led government with a plan for change. And skills are essential to Labour's missions to drive economic growth and to break down the barriers to opportunity. But in fact they go way beyond that, skills training contributing across our society and great skills training driven by Skills England, supported by my department guided by the wisdom of colleges, universities, businesses, mayors and trade unions, directed by national priorities and local communities.

That's the skills system we need. The system that will drive forward all of our missions. It will help us to fix our NHS, to create clean and, to deliver safer streets. Skills are the fuel that would drive a decade of national renewal. Vital for our plan for change. That's why earlier this month, we unveiled our plans to support thousands more apprentices to qualify every year. More people with the right skills and in high demand sectors from social care to construction and beyond. We've listened to what businesses have told us.

We will shorten the minimum length of apprenticeships and put employers in charge of decisions on English and maths requirements for adults. And in November last year, this Government announced 140 minimum pounds of investment in homebuilding skills hubs. When fully up to speed, these hubs will deliver more than 5,000 FastTrack apprenticeships a year. Helping to build the extra homes the people of this country desperately need. We are driving change for our skills system, and Skills England is leading the charge. It will assess the skills needed on the ground at regional and national level, now and in the years to come.

And where skills evolve rapidly, when new and exciting technologies are accelerating, clean and G and technology, Skills England will be ready to give employers the fast and flexible support they need. I will give way.

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I think for giving way on that point. Reps in the constituency of Bournemouth East, a coastal community and coastal communities have been forgotten over the last 14 years, almost as much as the skills agenda. In my constituency, Bournemouth and Poole College led by Phil sales is doing incredible work and in April they are about to open the green energy construction campus the green energy construction campus which will enable solar, heat pump and rainwater capture skills to be taught to apprentices and trainees.

taught to apprentices and trainees. Was she joining congratulating Bournemouth and Poole College and was she also agreed that colleges

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such as those are critical to achieving clean power by 2030? Delighted to hear my honourable friend's experience from friend's experience from Bournemouth. Our colleges are a Bournemouth. Our colleges are a crucial part of how we will make sure that we have the skills we need now economy but how we will drive forward on our agenda around clean forward on our agenda around clean energy, and he is also right to identify the enormous opportunities identify the enormous opportunities that come in terms of jobs and growth and training opportunities as well as crucially, the important imperatives that comes of ensuring imperatives that comes of ensuring that we have safety and security of our energy supplies are never again are we so exposed to the fluctuations of energy markets which we saw through the invasion of

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Ukraine. And I will give way. I would amplify the valuable

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I would amplify the valuable skills that our colleges are teaching in the renewable teaching in the renewable technologies. I recently visited South Thames College in Wandsworth where I saw the labs they have set up, teaching installation heat pumps up, teaching installation heat pumps and other renewable technologies, although the main challenge that colleges are finding is staff to colleges are finding is staff to teach the classes and to take on the apprentices and all of the other apprentices and all of the other learners.

What support will the government give to colleges to ensure that they can recruit the teachers, recruit the experienced individuals passing on those skills

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to the apprentices so we can provide the workforces that we so dearly need? The honourable gentleman is right

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The honourable gentleman is right about the challenges that are faced across the Fe sector, and sadly this is a challenge that we see all too often after 14 years of failure often after 14 years of failure under the Conservatives. We do recognise the enormous of junkie recognise the enormous of junkie that comes with investing in our fantastic colleges, and that's why the budget we announced next to £300 million of additional revenue for further education and £300 million of new capital investment. That also of new capital investment.

That also builds on our investment to extend target retention incentive payments up to £6000 after tax to eligible early career Fe teachers in key subject areas because our FD sector will have a crucial role to play in our mission around growth and opportunity, and he is right to draw attention to that. Skills England will be ready to give employers the fast and flexible support they need. Where updates to courses in the past have been sluggish, left behind by new technology, this bill will help us to keep up with the pace of change.

Skills England will draw on high quality data, design courses that are demand led and shaped from the ground up for employers. And employers should be in no doubt, theirs will be a critical role in course design and delivery. That's why appointed Phil Smith to chair Skills England who brings the wealth of business expertise from his two decades leading Cisco, ensuring employers at the heart of Skills England. And have appointed Sir David Bell as vice chair, drawing on his wealth of experience across education and Whitehall.

And have also appointed Tessa Griffiths and Sarah McLean, Chief Executive on a job share basis with Jen Marsh as deputy. Strong independent leadership to move the skills system forward. Skills England will be held accountable by an independent board, and the bill itself requires a report to be published and laid before Parliament, setting out the impact on technical education and friendships of the exercise of the functions in this bill. The clear relationship between the Department and Skills England is governed by a public framework document which will be published for all to see.

A core constitutional document, produced in line with guidance from the Treasury, making clear the different roles that my department and Skills England. Skills England will reach across the country, not trapped in Whitehall but spending to every town and every city. Because growth and employment must benefit every part of the country, not just where it's easy to drive growth. That means being ambitious, especially in areas that have been overlooked for decades. Because talent and aspiration are no less present in those places.

Skills England will drive coordinated action to meet regional and national skills needs at all levels and in all places. It will work closely with Meryl Streep authorities and local and regional organisations. And will connect with counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too. Skills England will simply buy the system, combining functions within one powerful body, pulling together the disparate strands, government departments, local leaders, colleges, universities, training providers. Weaving them into a coherent offer for businesses and learners alike.

To see why the skills revolution is so important for growth, why it so important that we take skills seriously again, look no further than the U.K.'s stalling productivity over the last decade and 1/2. Dragging down our economy and cutting of hopes of higher incomes for workers. The skill system is central because despite all its problems, the expansion of workforce skills drove 1/3 of annual productivity growth between 2001 and 2019. So here we have a chance. Here we see what is at stake if we get this right, if we invest in our people, every back Skills England, we can drive productivity and get economic growth back on track.

And at the same time, we can give working people power and choice because that's what good skills can offer. The chance to take control of your career, to take advantage of the opportunities our economy will create. That's why Skills England will work to support the forthcoming industrial strategy, unveiled by the Chancellor announced last November. It will provide clarity on the eight growth sectors, advancement factoring, clean energy, defence industries, digital, financial services, life sciences and professional and business services and added to that, to more, construction and healthcare.

Skills England will work closely with the industrial strategy Council who will monitor the strategies progress against clear objectives. I will give way. give way.

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Grateful. She is speaking incredibly powerfully and passionately about the role of Skills England, and I absolutely share her commitment and excitement. share her commitment and excitement. But as she notes, this is I think But as she notes, this is I think IfATE bill that abolishes rather than creates Skills England, and there are those who believe that Skills England being on a statutory Skills England being on a statutory footing as an independent body rather than within the Department might have been the way to go.

Can might have been the way to go. Can you just explain to the House where she has taken the approach she has and why the House she believes and why the House she believes Skills England is a body within her department rather than as a truly independent body will have that sort of strength and respect in the

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sector that is so badly needed? I will set out the reason

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I will set out the reason primarily, and then I will say little bit if I may about the way in which Skills England will operate. which Skills England will operate. Firstly, the need to do it in this way is one of time and speed. Hopefully as I've set out to the House today, the need to act as agent. We've got to get on with this, make sure we are tackling the chronic skills shortages we see chronic skills shortages we see right across our country.

There's no time to waste, and this government is determined to drive opportunity is determined to drive opportunity and growth in every corner of our country, and further delays to that will hold back not just growth but opportunities too. Where it comes to the function of Skills England and how it will operate, Skills England will be an executive agency of the Department of education. It will have the independence it needs to perform its role effectively with a robust governance and accountability framework with a chair who brings enormous wealth of experience from business.

A strong independent board chaired by Phil Smith will balance operational independence with proximity to government. It will operate in the same way that many executive agencies already operate, such as the DVLA. But as with any new arms length body, in the next 18 to 24 months, we will review how Skills England is functioning to consider whether it still exists consider whether it still exists I'm surprised that members opposite are surprised because that is simply how these things are done and they know that all too well.

But if they are content to allow drift and delay, then they will hold back opportunity for people across our country. They will hold back the demand that people laid to get on with the job of creating the conditions that they can deliver, more opportunities, more chances to learn and to up skill. Skills England will work closely with the industrial strategy Council who will monitor the strategies progress. The chair will have a permanent seat on the council, and this really matters.

By 2035, there will be at least 1.4 million jobs a clean energy mission which will rely on talented people and the greener future. The technological change including AI is accelerating, and it brings huge opportunities for the economy, but to seize these opportunities, we have a supply of people with the right skills. We will nurture talent with all regions. People will have the skills they need. We will work with the skills advisory committee to ensure that training accounts for the overall needs of the market in that some sectors will receive labour

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from abroad. I thank the Secretary of State

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I thank the Secretary of State for giving up her time, and I support her ambition to make sure we support her ambition to make sure we have the skills in the future. Could she say a little bit about how skills England will support the foundational manufacturing foundational manufacturing industries in places like Stoke-on- Trent in ceramics that are not going Trent in ceramics that are not going to be priority. They are crying out to be priority. They are crying out from skills because then we can get our own economy and get the true

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levelling up in my opinion. My friend always champions the

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My friend always champions the ceramics industry. I know he is absolutely right to put this in absolutely right to put this in context. What I would say to him about how skills England can benefit the ceramics industry and his the ceramics industry and his constituents, is that we can move much more rapidly to make changes to qualifications and training requirements that meet the needs of employers with further flexibility, shorter courses, foundational print shorter courses, foundational print ships for young people, for the chance to get on including long- standing traditional industries as well as those new job opportunities that come from the future.

This bill is a crucial leap forwards, bringing the different parts of the skill system closer together, and it paves the way for skills England. It transfers the current systems for apprenticeships and technical education to the Secretary of State. Not to exercise power from Westminster but to empower the expert leadership of skills England to drive the change we need. Bringing these functions to skills England will create the content of qualifications at the heart of the skills system where they belong. Skills England has existed in shadow form since Labour took power and began the work of change in July.

It set out its first state of the nation report into skills gaps in our economy in September. Skills England is moving ahead. The leadership is in place, and by laying the groundwork for a swift transition to skills England, we are moving a step closer to a joint skills system. But at its heart, this bill is about growth and opportunity, grow for our economy, opportunity for people, and there is no time to waste. We need action and not delay full the people of this country need better jobs, brighter futures, no more vacancies due to a lack of skills, no more chances missed, no more growth lost.

We need change now, not change pushing back to some foggy future, so we are pushing back. This is legislation that builds on what has come before, with more cohesion, more dynamism, more ambition because that is how we break down the barriers to opportunity. That is how we fire up the engines of economic growth, and that is how we deliver the future that this country deserves, the bright hope that our best days lie ahead of us, and I commend this bill ahead of us, and I commend this bill to the house.
15:36
Laura Trott Portrait Rt Hon Laura Trott MP (Sevenoaks, Conservative)
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The question is that the Bill be now read a second time.

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I rise to speak on a piece of legislation that poses more risks than benefits, and one which proves that there is not parity of esteem for technical qualifications within for technical qualifications within the government. The Secretary of State is putting forward a bill today which allows her personally to today which allows her personally to write each friendship assessment, and just in case you think I'm and just in case you think I'm exaggerating, we can see it in the Explanatory Notes.

The bill provides Explanatory Notes. The bill provides the option for each standard and plan to be prepared by the Secretary of State. Can you imagine the outcry if this was done with history GCSEs? If this was a Conservative government taking these powers, there would be howls of outrage from the Labour Party. It is extraordinary that the government are cutting out employers and giving sole discretion to the Secretary of State. They wouldn't allow it with academic qualifications. We mustn't allow it for vocational ones.

I do acknowledge the statement made in the other place about clarifying situations, but the specific criteria for using this power should be on the face of the bill. At the moment, the Secretary of State has carte blanche to do whatever she likes, and we know from the education Bill that is a very bad idea. So can the Frontbench today confirmed that there will be some restrictions, and will they put these on the face of the bill? The bill is another manifestation for the Department of education spree because remember, as with the schools bill, everything must be controlled by the Secretary of State, no integration is allowed.

The bill abolishes the Institute for technical education and transfers to the Secretary of State, absorbing them into the Department for education. It was set up skills England but we have no details on the plans for skills England itself in the bill know how the government proposes these qualifications to work in practice. Simply creating a new agency will not help address any of the issues that we need to within the skills system, but even putting aside my severe doubts about the wisdom of progressing down this road first place, the very least that the government can provide the house with is some information on skills England itself in the bill.

The only thing we know from debates in the other place and the secretary of states has confirmed today is that skills England will not be on a statutory footing and therefore, will unquestionably be less independent than this. Can the Secretary of State explain why this is an improvement? And the reason this matters is because the framework document published in the autumn is at best vague and at worst silent on the role of employers. There are some segments saying that employers will be engaged in the preparation of occupational standards but it does not say how.

This is Secretary of State think she knows better than employers? I urge her to explain why employers are so much less visible in the framework document or to agree to amend the bill, reducing the role of employers will harm the apprenticeship system. The change will also create unnecessary turmoil in the skills section. Across party practice was passed. The amendment will delay the provisions to the bill to ensure that skills England has time to set out before taking on its role and to ensure the initiative duties do not get in the way of providing quality apprenticeships.

This seems a bare minimum of what we would expect and I hope the government do not try to propose the moment in this house. To do so would be absurd. The skills system needs a stable landscape and this bill presents real risks with no obvious benefits. Risks the government would erode in the skills system by removing the employer and replacing it with addict out from the Secretary of State. Risks of poor leadership replacing a good organisation which is liked by employers and apprenticeships with

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an unknown and undefined body. I am grateful to her for giving way and I have listened carefully to way and I have listened carefully to what she is saying. She seems to be evangelising the role. I have had far stronger criticisms than she far stronger criticisms than she appears to put their. It is her appears to put their. It is her position that it doesn't have many faults and should carry on the way it is, but she also think it has it is, but she also think it has been a role, and organisations remit that has grown, it's very vague, and that has grown, it's very vague, and most employers feel it is a block to getting the standards they need, rather than the vehicle to it that

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she seems to suggest? I have a huge amount of respect

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I have a huge amount of respect for the honourable gentleman. I thought his question earlier was spot on. I would say that there is spot on. I would say that there is much that needs to be improved but there is much less vegan skills England which is what we have in England which is what we have in front of us at the moment. There are front of us at the moment. There are risks of distraction. If the government were serious about progressing quickly with the urgent strategic issues that is needed with strategic issues that is needed with skills reform, it would seem to me the most effective step would be to build on the success, rather than dismantling it.

Instead, this bill threatens to undo much of the progress made under successive Conservative governments in building a world-class apprenticeship system and technical system. It is fiddling for no reason, change for no purpose, and so often the case for this government the opposite of what is required. is required.

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We have to equip our workforce with skills employers need which is critical for economic growth and ensuring that there are ensuring that there are opportunities both for young people and people who are midcareer to access high-quality training to enhance and develop skills which is vital for breaking down the barriers to opportunity which hold far too many people back. For far too long, many people back. For far too long, the further education and skills sector has been the Cinderella service of our education system.

Patronised with lipservice about how Patronised with lipservice about how important it is, always regarded the second best, and never allocated the level of funding it needed to really deliver. Despite the fact that, at the very peak, only around 1/3 of 18-year-olds go on to university. Our school system is overwhelmingly orientated to communicate to young people that university is the option they should all aim for, rather than taking a plurality of education options post 18, all of which can equip them well for a successful career.

This is create a postcode lottery in which the high quality further education and training opportunities that are available in

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some parts of the country are not available everywhere. She is making a profoundly

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She is making a profoundly important point that reinforces what I said about careers advice and I said about careers advice and guidance. She has a statutory duty guidance. She has a statutory duty on providers to make available independent advice but the problem is that is often by means of the internet. Schools will refer students to the internet, rather students to the internet, rather than bringing people into school to guide them, so she is right, and the best solution is exactly that kind of involvement from career advisers with students.



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I thank the member for his

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I thank the member for his intervention and I was delighted to visit a school in my constituency at a careers fair that gave young people the opportunity to meet people the opportunity to meet face-to-face with many employers and also provides a further education in order to give real meaning and
15:45
15:45
15:45
Helen Hayes Portrait Helen Hayes MP (Dulwich and West Norwood, Labour)
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engaged in cutting age training, renewable energy, dental technology renewable energy, dental technology and game design and production. They were being equipped with valuable skills to help them access high- quality jobs with the possibility in quality jobs with the possibility in some cases are progressing the training all the way through to training all the way through to This is a good example of the strategic vision being applied to skills to ensure the needs of employers are met and the best opportunities given to young people.

Not everybody is able to benefit from such a strategic approach. I welcome this bill. It is vital this government is giving further education and skills the strategic and they require and establishing a national agency to deliver a step change in the strategy to develop skills and trilling opportunity. Skills and has been operating since July last year and will become an executive agency after the passing of the bill. It will work to underpin many strategic aims of the government including delivering economic growth and the skills needed to deliver the forms that need to be built and to drive the urgent transition of the energy sector to achieve net zero as well as to drive much-needed improvements in the NHS and social care.

As the first Skills England report highlights, we have a fragmented and confusing landscape that lets learners, frustrates businesses an old back role. The current system the government inherited has been badly neglected and requires updating to deliver what is required. I would be grateful for further therapy from the government on statutory underpinning for Skills England which means the Secretary of State future secretaries of state fundamental changes or shut down without being accountable to Parliament.

This calls into question the ability Skills England will have to underpin the sector over a long period of time. I understand government agency but it is important that in delivering this change it is placed on a strong foundation. To be effective in foundation. To be effective in delivering the skills system we need, it will need to work with a number of departments beyond the Department of education. The chief executive as the equivalent of a director-level post in the civil service and senior people from across government will be expected to act the recommendations in can affect the Potgieter.

The government should consider the seniority of the CEO in this light the bill progresses. Partnership working with key stakeholders outside government including training providers, trade unions, will also be critical to the success of Skills in one this is not written into the bill and the way in which it will be held accountable for partnership working are unclear. I want to ask if the Secretary of State will take further action to address this. The impact statement for the bill states there may be a drop in apprenticeship starts and Institute and technical institution functions will be transferred and the disproportionate impact on apprenticeships, disadvantaged learners and begins as possible.

County secretary of state please explain what steps she will take to mitigate this potential short-term drop. The success of Skills and will depend on a series of wider factors which should be considered. There is a significant issue of funding for , , exacerbated , exacerbated by , exacerbated by the , exacerbated by the failure , exacerbated by the failure to extend the recent pay increase for teachers. It cannot be right that the teacher in a college can be paid less than a teacher in a school for teaching the same subjects.

To drive esteem between pupils following an academic or vocational route, it's important the sixth form colleges can retain teachers and this means addressing the lower levels of pay at sixth form colleges and addressing the pay gap. It is difficult that those who have the skills to teach trade can often more by practising the trade in the private sector. There is little pressure on industry to restart the security pipe occasional teachers. The government should give further consideration to the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers in the further education sector.

For some students the further education sector, scolded have not been the happiest of their lives. Colleges and apprenticeships should be the time to build confidence because they are starting to succeed at the things they excel at. The importance of English and maths is universally accepted district but something is badly -- universally accepted and understood but something is wrong in the education system and the cycle of failure and continuing in this sector which requires them to reset again and again.

There must be a better way to ensure the functional skills in the subjects which employers need within further education while enabling young people to succeed, build confidence, thrive. Finally, I want to raise the issue of the issues that rental and the information provided to sixth form students in the point made earlier in the debate the decide on their next steps after school or college. Meeting with school leaders in my constituency, many highly they proudly moved to university was often presented as a natural, secure step with a well trodden path through the UCAS process but apprenticeships are not presented with the same clarity, coherence, or even timeframe.

It makes it harder for teachers to advise students and harder for parents to have confidence in pathways that may be less predictable and secure. If we want to see true parity between academic and vocational needs, this must change and I hope it will be a priority for the newly established Skills and. Select Committee recognises the strategic importance of education and skills and have launched a substantial inquiry recently which aims to understand how the system can better equip young people with skills and qualifications for a range of sectors opening up a range of opportunities to young people looking to make you sweat you.

We will make recommendations to the government in due course and we look forward to playing our part in scrutinising the work of Skills

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England. I called the Liberal Democrats

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I called the Liberal Democrats spokesperson to move the bill. So, spokesperson to move the bill. So, the Minister is right that skills need reform and the Liberal need reform and the Liberal Democrats agreed with the Secretary of State that the current fragmented and confusing skills landscape is bad for learners, businesses, and bad for learners, businesses, and holds back growth, as she made clear in the first report for Skills in the first report for Skills England in autumn. I and my honourable friend on these benches share ambition to build a high- skill, high productivity workforce to meet the needs of the country and to realise that ambition, reform is
15:53
Ian Sollom Portrait Ian Sollom MP (St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, Liberal Democrat)
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essential. Like many in the sector, we were encouraged to hear that the we were encouraged to hear that the government was privatising this last government was privatising this last July in the King's Speech with the statement, "My government will establish Skills in ones which will have a new partnership with employers at its heart." The bill employers at its heart." The bill before us today does not do that but before us today does not do that but simply abolishes the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and transfers responsibility to the Secretary of State.

We need a strong and independent skills body with proper Parliamentary oversight and genuine employer commitment. This bill delivers a centralisation of power in the hands of ministers. There are examples of bodies combine independence and strong democratic accountability for the most critical accountability for the most critical Lucy areas. The Office For Budget Responsibility has statutory independence while being directly accountable to Parliament through the Treasury Select Committee and trip is subject to Parliamentary approval and reports must be laid before Parliament added had clear statutory duties to ensure transparency.

The Climate Change Committee similarly has a clear statutory basis that ensures independent advice for being properly scrutinised by Parliament. Yet the framework proposed for Skills England, or at least the draft framework for illustrative purposes, which is all we have seen so far, fall short. Despite this is about working across government, the governance structure is heavily Department For Education-centric. There is no cross departmental board representation, no clear structure for aligning with bodies like the Migratory Advisory Committee.

Are we to assume that the government thinks skills policy is not so critical to its mission and to warrant a stronger framework than we have seen? This matters profoundly when you consider the scale of cross- government coordination required. Skills England must work on future workforce needs and with the Migration Re-Advisory Committee on reducing reliance on overseas labour and with the Department for Net Zero and the DWP or employment programs and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Social Care on workforce planning.

Particularly in light of recent developments, it must support the Defence strategy and the critical industries and skills we will need for Defence. Skills build that even Director General status, meaning it will

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struggle to drive the development of skills the system desperately needs. My honourable friend makes a

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My honourable friend makes a powerful case for the independence powerful case for the independence of Skills England and the reason of Skills England and the reason that the point he makes is so important is to get the lateral important is to get the lateral action he describes it will be necessary for the body created to have a reach that government departments simply do not seem to have.

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I absolutely agree that cross- departmental and cross-industry departmental and cross-industry working is critical and the need for a truly independent body. The indication for standards development is also concerning. Where we have is also concerning. Where we have had employer-led trailblazer drips setting standards they can now be setting standards they can now be bypassed entirely. --. In limited circumstances, this will have the circumstances, this will have the benefit of speeding up the review process.

It has been frustrating. There are no safeguards to prevent ministerial control being the default response and instead of maximising responsiveness, it makes the engagement consultative and that speaks to a broader point that the credibility of Skills include but employers will be absolutely key if they are to buy into the vision for the country. As the Secretary of State not at least considered the possibility that the proposed structure where programs can be driven at her whim or that of her successors undermined credibility from the start? The government's one impact assessment what is about a slow growth rate for new apprenticeships and education courses due to potential delays caused by the new approach.

It reveals who will pay the price - adult learners who make up 40% and often face the greatest barriers. Learners from the most deprived communities you already have a lower chance than those from affluent areas. One more point. I'd learners from which is likely North-East where apprenticeship starts are already lower and every reduction has a disproportionate effect. Speak I thank the honourable gentleman for a given way and ICT has received the briefing from the ALP anti-appears to be reading it word for word, I'm not sure of the House come up with anything himself.

The bill has gone through the House of Lords and while I have sympathy with some of the points listed in the amendment that he proposes, doesn't he think that the reassurances from the Secretary of State which can be scrutinised over the course of the bill will at least get the speedy setting up of Skills England rather than the approach she is suggesting which is to cancel all this reform I go back to square one and stop from dead in its tracks.



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I thank the Member for the

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I thank the Member for the intervention I have looked beyond the briefing, thank you very much. I would add that I think that this is an absolutely critical area of an absolutely critical area of government policy and it is important to get it right from the important to get it right from the start and that is just a difference start and that is just a difference As my noble friend said in the other place, this bill looks like an place, this bill looks like an innocuous bill but there is so much more to it than meets the R.

It represents a fundamental shift away from employer leadership with skills system towards ministerial whims, away from statutory independence towards departmental convenience, away from parliamentary ability towards rule and regulation. The government may argue that this is just an enabling bill to pave the way for skills England. But that is precisely the problem. It enables the wrong thing. It enables centralisation where we need independence. It enables ministerial control when we need employer leadership. And it enables opacity where we need capability.

where we need capability.

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We share a county together and he will be aware that in a place such as mine, we have seen decimation in as mine, we have seen decimation in level II and three apprenticeships. This he not recognise that the biggest concern from employers is that the current system is centralised and the current system is letting down working class family like mine and what they want to like mine and what they want to skills England. No employer has spoken against skills England but spoken against skills England but many have talking about the current system.

What might be all right for system. What might be all right for your policy in Cambridge is not going to be all right in Peterborough and we need this change delivered now.

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I would point out that this is not Cambridge, and many employers not Cambridge, and many employers have talked to me with their concerns about skills England and concerns about skills England and the lack of clarity on what we have with the future of skills England. But this is why we can't support But this is why we can't support this bill, not because we oppose reform but because we desperately reform but because we desperately need care in the hands of ministers, removing proper scrutiny, and weakening employee involvement in our school system will make things worse.

The economy deserves better than this over centralisation of power. I am going to finish. They deserve a properly independent skills England with the authority and accountability of change, and I would urge the government to think again and bring forward legislation that delivers the genuine reform that the skills system needs. Thank you.
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16:04
Lee Barron Portrait Lee Barron MP (Corby and East Northamptonshire, Labour)
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desk, and it led me onto a part of the classroom can provide. But for the classroom can provide. But for too long, vocational qualifications have been looked down on, seen as have been looked down on, seen as second rate. What they do is allow people to reach their full potential in a way that fits in with them. This bill is a crucial step in delivering the government's delivering the government's manifesto promise to setup skills England, a body that will take smart joint approach to ensuring our workforce has the skills our economy needs.

By bringing businesses training providers, unions and local leaders together under one roof, we can finally build a system that works for everybody. Skills England will map out where we are falling short, make sure training fits with businesses that we need and oversee the new growth and skills levy which will replace the existing apprenticeship levy. This means businesses can put money into the right training at the right time, leaving both workers and employers with more. And let's be honest, we are in a skills crisis.

In construction, health, social care, engineering and digital industries, we simple don't have enough trained workers currently which is why there is the need for the speeds that we are moving in. According to the 2022 employer skills survey, over 1/3 of job vacancies are because people don't have the right skills that we need. That is not acceptable. We can't let a lack of training hold back our economy and that is exactly what is happening at the moment. This bill will make sure that apprenticeships and technical qualifications match what employers qualifications match what employers need.

So whether it is young people starting out or adults reskilling, they will know they are on the path to a stable and well-paid job. Please don't ignore the damage done by looking down on vocational training. We need to change the way we talk about skills, apprenticeship and lifelong. These careers are not a backup plan. They are a first- class route to success. This bill is a move to challenge the idea that the only way to get ahead is through university. It shows we are serious with technical skills so that no matter the path someone chooses, they have what they need to thrive in life and in work.

So ask yourself do you want a skills system that actually works? Do you want to help build a workforce that is properly trained, that is valued, and trained? This bill is the chance to fix training in England. It will give apprenticeships and technical attention, the respect that they deserve. It will bring order, clarity, and proper coordination, things our system has been lacking for too long. In September, I visited Corby technical school in my constituency being led by Shona. They told me about their technical school approved partnership scheme.

This is leading in the local area and brings together business partners who support children through school, offer work experience and provide apprenticeships. When that first opened, it was looked down upon. It was as if the kids that won't brighten up when that school. That is wrong because the skills that went to the school are well supported, get on with partnerships and get on in life for apprenticeship. The CCTV scheme has grown to local employers and they have now seen a rise in awareness with the National apprenticeship week.

Opportunities like these give opportunities to skills and confidence to get on in life. We have more schemes that I have seen, including those at formation. I recently visited Asda, Weetabix and components which is 82nd in last years top apprenticeship employers list in the country. So they are delivering what they can and what this does is give them the freedom and flexibility to be able to deliver more, and most importantly, this is what we need to build the future and to build the growth that our economy needs.

These are the kinds of opportunities we can grow and spread with skills England and the powers in this bill. Let's get our systems in step with an industrial strategy, joined up with the local economy to bring in a skills revolution our country so desperately needs and we can do that with this bill.

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Thank you. This bill is important for the future of technical education and apprenticeships in our country. I accept the government's country. I accept the government's intention behind these proposals is to streamline the governance management of skills in this country. However, I believe that the bill threatens to centralise the system to such an extent that it may system to such an extent that it may undermine the independence and efficacy of our spells system. The efficacy of our spells system.

The Institute for technical institution was established with the clear purpose of ensuring that the apprenticeship standards and assessment were determined with the input of employers, education providers, and industry experts. By abolishing this body in favour of a
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Ashley Fox Portrait Sir Ashley Fox MP (Bridgwater, Conservative)
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group of civil servants, appointed by the Secretary of State, I fear by the Secretary of State, I fear that the government will make technical education less responsive to the needs of the labour market. This bill removes the requirement to publish regular reviews of occupational standards and plans. The government says that by removing The government says that by removing this duty, the bill allows much greater flexibility. But it does so without ensuring that the views of employers will continue to be heard and be considered.

The bill grants the Secretary of State power to determine the standards and assessments that will be used to measure progress in technical education. No longer will these decisions be made by a broad group of stakeholders including employers and sector specialists. What does all this mean for our workforce? What is this mean for learners? It means that we are at risk of creating a system that is more distant, less responsive, and potentially less effective. When decisions are made by civil servants without the impact or input of those on the ground, those who are directly impacted by these decisions, we risk losing touch with

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the realities of the skills landscape. I am grateful to the honourable member for giving way. I am afraid he and the Shadow Secretary of State speak as if the Institute for speak as if the Institute for apprenticeships was an unmitigated success. Between 2018, 19, and success. Between 2018, 19, and 23/24, a printer ship starts in England per capita drop by 16%, so how is that responsive system? I think the house would be better served if the members opposite served if the members opposite acknowledged.

I understand why you are focusing on outcomes, sorry, on structures because that is in part what the bill is focused on, but surely we should be focused on outcomes and the previous government

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is not delivering that. I thank the member for his intervention, and clearly, the intervention, and clearly, the pandemic had something to do with that reduction. And I wouldn't say that reduction. And I wouldn't say that the system is perfect but replacing it with a committee of replacing it with a committee of civil service appointed by the Secretary of State, I fear is to be less successful still. Amendments less successful still. Amendments have been made in the other place to address some of these concerns, address some of these concerns, specifically the one year delay between the establishment of skills England and the commencement of the bill which would allow for a more effective transition and give skills England a better chance of getting up and running.

It is crucial that we do not damage the very real progress made on technical education under the last government. During the general election, my party pledged to raise the number of people in high skilled apprenticeships by 100,000 per year, representing a 30% rise. This was to recognise that for many young people, apprenticeships represent a better way to enter the workplace than some university degrees. Edgewater and Taunton College based on my constituency is the U.K.'s largest provider of apprenticeships supporting thousands of learners in achieving their career ambitions.

With over 120 partnership programs, the college offers opportunities for individuals to gain hands-on experience and develop the skills needed for today's competitive job market. DTC success is reflected in its achievements such as its registered nurse degree apprenticeship which recruited 53 apprenticeships in 23/24 academic year alone. The College's commitment to employee engagement and industry aligned training is at the heart of its success. It has strong partnerships with employers of all sizes ensuring that its apprenticeship programs meet local and national skill needs.

Now, while BTC welcomes the streamlining of the management of apprenticeships, they are clear that these changes must not reduce the quality of education and support provided to apprenticeships. As they rightly point out, it is crucial that these changes do not compromise the well- being of students or the high standards of education they have come to expect. I hope that the new framework will continue to uphold the standards and ensure that the needs of both students and employers are met effectively.

It is this type of local industry focused and employer engaged approach to skills training that we should be fostering. In conclusion, while I understand the desire to create a streamlined and more efficient system, the government must be careful not to sacrifice the effectiveness and independence that has been the hallmark of our apprentice and technical system. This bill in its current form grants perhaps too much power to the Secretary of State with too little accountability. It risks diminishing the role of employers and learners and weakening the checks and balances that have served us well.

So I will continue to scrutinise this bill as it proceeds through this bill as it proceeds through

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I am pleased to be speaking in
16:15
Gurinder Singh Josan Portrait Gurinder Singh Josan MP (Smethwick, Labour)
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I am pleased to be speaking in the second reading of this bill which I welcome for improving the skills sector in England and in particular apprenticeships. The subsequent addition of technical education to the bill has created a system which increases pathways to all but there are too many in our country for whom unlocking the full potential remains a distant possibility. This is fundamental to everything the government wants to set out for the future.

There is the incredible plan for change and he fled to be self-sufficient on energy, Defence, security, the need to increase growth, they all require a comprehensive plan for improving a comprehensive plan for improving skills. This plan to transfer these functions to Skills England and will change the functions that will be undertaken by Skills England. I propose important changes which will build flexibility in to enable the skills system to take account of skills system to take account of changing circumstances.

We have spoken about the power being taken up by the Minister and the Department. I think accountability is important as well and having accountability built in is important so we now we can come back to ministers and hold them accountable. This will ensure the skills system is responsive to the needs of employers and the economy. This is incredibly important for my constituency. It has a rich industrial heritage and file that has changed over the years, the need for high quality skills and education and training remains high.

Significantly more people have the qualification and fewer than average take part in apprentices. Too often, structural inconsistencies hold back businesses and people from flourishing. The lack of skills essential for work, specific skills required by employers and places that they need them, and the lack of options available to many from achieving these skills are some of the issues. The provision of this bill will help streamline the skills system and ensure it is able to identify skills gaps, respond to changing circumstances, and provide the skills we need to flourish.

Last week I met with Robert Powell was based on my constituency at a large international distributor involved in trucks. It is a significant business with 451 employees of which 61 are apprentices. In addition, pretty much all of their senior staff in the organisation have come up through the apprenticeship group. This business really values apprenticeships with many apprentices to great jobs including one who became chief mechanic at a top Formula 1 racing team.

Something to aspire to and a great story for someone from Stoke. We must listen to businesses and while the trucking company welcomed the announcement that there will not be the requirement for apprenticeships but they are concerned it applies to people aged 16-18 a plan for friendship. I was told some of their senior staff would not be in their position if they were required to have an English or maths qualification at the age of 16 when they started the apprenticeship.

I hope the government will look at this. I want to congratulate Richard Parker. It illustrates the flexibility and freedom that can come from this. Richard Parker launched a scheme last year to enable bigger businesses to offset the apprenticeship levy to the authority the HMRC. That led the authority received nearly £3 million in support 176 small and medium- sized businesses and 400 apprentices to deliver fully funded friendship. To me, that is an indication of how the bill could be utilised.

The two examples I have outlined show what can be achieved through a skills system that is more flexible and responsive as well as being focused on excellence and that is incredibly for my constituency. I therefore have no hesitation in supporting this bill.

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Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

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Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. You cannot just wish it into being, you cannot assume it or assert it, you cannot legislate for it. Esteem you cannot legislate for it. Esteem you cannot legislate for it. Esteem is in the eye of the esteemer and it is errant and with training and is errant and with training and other things, it requires a clear and understandable set of qualifications with high standards qualifications with high standards and specifications that people know cannot be fiddled because they had been set independently.

Equipping the individual with what they need to know and what you need to do to succeed in training because the standards have been set by employers in that trade, crap, sector. These things were at the heart of the blueprint was set out for technical education in the country that has been followed for the last number of years and I wheel 'blueprint'
16:23
Damian Hinds Portrait Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP (East Hampshire, Conservative)
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because it was the vision of Lord Sainsbury, I Labour peer, and it has Sainsbury, I Labour peer, and it has landmark report he said we had to streamline the system to have clear parts to vocational qualifications, but apprenticeships and the minimum amount of time off the job and for T levels, a minimum standard higher than normal with appropriate than normal with appropriate standards. The expansion of the remit of what was then the Institute of Apprenticeships to become the broader Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, linking together apprenticeships and T levels.

He was it was not a job for the Department of education but for the employers in the industry is that would be employing those people when they came back. We thought these principles had become a matter of cross-party consensus. I am sorry to say that we were wrong. We have already had from this new government rowing back on the streamlining of qualifications. They have said that they will have shorter apprenticeships but still call them apprenticeships and in this bill they will abolish, not reform or evolve, abolish the body that is independent of government that sets the standards and ensures the integrity of the system.

Over 50 years in this country, we have had industrial training boards, the Manpower Services Commission, trailing commissions, enterprise councils, techs, and vitreous councils which would eventually get councils which would eventually get together to give us ETEC and the results of the Learning and Skills Council, the UK Provision for Council, the UK Provision for Employment and Skills, the ESFA and More Recent Additions. Now we have Skills England which will be the 13th agency and I say to the members of the, of what it takes to solve the skills challenges, and they do exist, if takes is a new body, machinery of government, do they not think one of the previous 12 would have managed that already? Ministers, especially in new government, like to create something new and in this case they think they have got something new that business have got something new that business once, a Qango - except Skills England is not one.

I'm grateful for talking about all these things but none of them are in the bill because the bill is not about Skills England. There are two mentions of Skills England in the text and I think both mentions were inserted by the House of Lords in its passage through Parliament so far. This bill is about abolishing the independent Institute sets standards and passing those powers not to Skills England but to the Secretary of State. That is what Skills England is.

They are banding about fancy terms about agency this and that but it is part of the Department for Education. There is no reason when you are trying to work across government, I know of no reason to believe this new part of the DfE will be any more equipped to work across government, let alone the whole economy, in southern these issues. I love the Department for education, I deeply do. To operate across government and get things done I am afraid you must have your body in the Treasury, the Cabinet office, not the DfE or the Business Departments or some other you could have picked.

So far from reflecting what business this, that piece of legislation removes the requirement for businesses to set the standards for what they are future employees learn. Following the vote in the House of Lords, the government does say it will amend the bill to be clear it will still, listen to this, what it actually says is that it will be clear about the time when it will and will not listen to business which, in my view, is not the case. It has to go hand in hand with the independence of the body.

Add them stand, even if they are listening to business, the DfE will still be convening, there will be no other body. It will be the government setting standards for T levels and apprenticeships and I've asked the Minister this question twice already. We would not allow it for A-levels that the Department for Education would set the standards and work it out. That is always independently and verified. If we would not have it for A-levels, how could it be right for T-levels.

It is a rhetorical question but one that ministers ought to try to answer. The noble Baroness set out all the things set out to make Skills England something other than just another department within a department in the DfE and the Secretary of State has set out some apartments and some of them are good appointments to some of the roles that body. None of that is in legislation. That was all used to us that has come out since the announcement of Skills England that these individuals will be placed in this setup.

We are voting over the course of the next few weeks, through committee, on what will be an act of Parliament and all that will say is that those powers are coming into the office of the Secretary of State for the Department of education and it will be for them to decide in the future how to use them and it may well be this team of ministers is in power for 25-30 years or it may not. I encourage all colleagues to think about that.

We do not legislate for 4-5 years but we are legislating the law of the land which, all things being equal, stays in place. The good news is that I confidently predict the government get all its targets on the numbers of young people going through technical vocational training and attaining qualifications. I predict that'll happen and I can do that confidently because I think back to the 2003 and because I think back to the 2003 and with the key target -- 2000s.

And with the key target of more children getting GCSEs in English and maths, they made that happen, you at the year, even as we were tumbling down the international comparison tables and that was achieved without having final control over the special specification of what counted as a qualification or passing or getting a particular grade. Imagine what They want a new body but to give it a chance to succeed, and crucially, for those young people about who this ultimately is about, that body must be independent.

And I call on ministers to take the opportunity as this bill goes through the house to write that on the face of the bill. We were encouraged by what the Secretary of State said earlier that within two years, they will review the status of skills England with a view to putting it onto a statutory independent body. I would encourage ministers to take the opportunity through committee to write that into I welcome this bills commitment to broadening the education opportunities and skills training which is so urgently needed, and as one of those young people who undertook the qualifications and the early 2000's, I can assure my honourable friend that a rigorous and clearly got me where I am today, so in areas like south-east
16:33
Anna Gelderd Portrait Anna Gelderd MP (South East Cornwall, Labour)
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Cornwall, areas have felt forgotten, cut off from economic growth seen in other parts of the UK. Labour understands this link between individuals training and the wider individuals training and the wider economic prosperity of the country. economic prosperity of the country. And this bill is an example of how we are rebuilding the country from the ground up focusing on young the ground up focusing on young people. Where routes are not the right fit, pen ships offer valuable alternatives, not only for those alternatives, not only for those enrolled but for those training dividers and the economy.

I know that where you are born all the circumstances you grew up in should not limit where you go or what you achieve. In this mission for a Labour government is making education a priority. It is a far cry from the previous government which saw businesses pleading for change and left our young people paying the price. In Southeast,, we see local businesses leading by example. A homegrown company from Liskeard is doing fantastic work to improve digital connectivity across Cornwall.

They are investing in more than just cables and infrastructure. They are investing in local people through training screams that create meaningful opportunities for local residents and builder skills that directly benefit my community. During National apprenticeship week last week, I had the privilege of attending the pension graduation ceremony celebrating the achievements of young people which was a reminder of what is possible when we support them through businesses and this bill. Working in partnership with Penrith College, the groundbreaking apprenticeship scheme is part of the companies DNA, creating new jobs and training people locally.

It is vital to have opportunities like this in rural communities, continuing momentum and that is what this bill will deliver. This bill is a step in the right direction and I want to highlight the brilliant work of Truro and Penrith College. It is Cornwall's only expert apprenticeship provider and one of just five further education colleges in the UK that have been awarded the status by the Department of education. The college staff, many of whom are residents in south-east Cornwall pay a crucial role in shaping our local workforce and improving opportunities.

Pension courses are aligned with the missions and key industries which will help people secure high quality employment after completing their training. In Cornwall, where incomes remain around 20% below the national average, this investment in skills and futureproof jobs is essential. By strengthening our apprenticeship system, we can equip the next generation while also supporting our local businesses like Wilton net., Is a driving force in Britain's first Industrial Revolution and with the right foundations, we can once again lead the industries of the future, whether in renewable technology or digital infrastructure, but the first step is building those foundations.

Thank

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you. Much of this has a purpose of

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Much of this has a purpose of learning in the Secretary of State's began in this spirit, and we can all began in this spirit, and we can all agree the purpose of learning is both to deliver personal fulfilment both to deliver personal fulfilment to the acquisition of understanding and competencies, and about
16:36
John Hayes Portrait Rt Hon Sir John Hayes MP (South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
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and competencies, and about fulfilling a social purpose by providing economic needs. John Ruskin said that the first condition of education is being able to put someone to meaningful work, and apprenticeships embody and epitomise that purpose. The trainee learns from a mental, a skill that has use in a workplace. The value of apprenticeships is why, when I was a shadow Minister for Universities and education skills, and then the Minister subsequently in 2010, I set about revitalising the system.

I knew that apprenticeships were understood by employers, recognised by the public and could be attractive to trainees, and provoked by the excellent contribution of the LibDem spokesman, it is vitally important to understand that you rescale our workforce, to provide it with the necessary competencies to meet the government's economic ambitions, you really do have to skill or skill existing workers as well as making practical work to new entrants to the workplace because as a matter of numbers, if you train more young but don't retrain the existing workforce, you will never deliver the capacity needed to fill the skills gaps and deal with the shortages.

They do inhibit our ability to drive the economy forward. So this bill is about the management, the maintenance of standards of apprenticeships. I understood why that mattered so much, which is why I set about elevating the practical, elevating vocational and technical because I believe that technical learning is as important as accomplishment. It has been a myth perpetuated by the establishment, and as I have seen, I don't want to damn him having praised him, but perpetuated by the establishment, the only form of prowess that comes through academic learning.

That myth has been so pervasive that a former prime minister Tony Blair set out the extraordinary and bizarre ambition that 50% of people should go to university. It is about their taste and talents, the attitudes and abilities. You don't set a target and then shoot people into a system in order to meet it. You allow a system to reflect those at dudes, tastes, and talents, and many people's abilities rightfully lead people's abilities rightfully lead them not to academic education but to a practical one, and yet, we are underpowered and undervalued the act of learning for so long in this country and continue to do so.

And deep at the heart of this fault, there have been the careers service, the careers advice and guidance that people have gotten in contributions. It has guided people even where it didn't actually suit them into an academic route which is still serving them. Even though it has landed them with immense debt and render them unable to get the kind of job that would enable them to pay off debts regularly, so it is really important we look again at that guidance.

I mentioned earlier that when I was the Minister, I created a statutory duty on schools with guidance, but as I said, doing it again, I should have insisted with that face-to-face guidance for a personal interview with students to set out for them various options available to them because unfortunately, teachers have typically been to university themselves, knowing that well, and are inclined to say to young people why don't you do what I did? Why don't you follow the route that I take? They are less informed about some of the roots that would lead people to acquire skills we have all said in this debate.

I refer members to my entry in the register of interest because I am associated with university myself. I alter say in my speech that my own background is entirely academic. I studied it to universities and have taught in two, so I don't have any practical skills myself, unlike my father he could turn his hand to almost anything. There is nothing he can do practically. I had to send out for man in the village. So my case is not borne of any personal prejudice one might say.

Maybe it is born of a certain sort of envy of those that can make and do things the way that Ruskin described. I will give way,

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but the honourable lady is going to test me now on my practical incompetence. I have got a couple of points to

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I have got a couple of points to make. Will the right honourable make. Will the right honourable member agree with me the important role that university and supporting technical advanced education and also under the stewardship of the also under the stewardship of the last government, we have seen a decimation of specialist careers guidance.

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Of course I do. It is important that many use adversities do great that many use adversities do great work and I wouldn't want to disparage that work. The lady is disparage that work. The lady is right to draw the attention to it, but the point I am making is that but the point I am making is that sadly, many people are driven down a path that this is just not right for path that this is just not right for them, and that is because of the underestimation of the significance of practical accomplishment, both at an intellectual level, the unwillingness to recognise the high order of the country, and practical level in terms of the advice that people are often given which they may later regret actually, but it is not easy when you are young person in particular to know quite what path to take, and if the advice you get skews you towards one route or another, it is fairly likely that you will be ill-equipped to make a considered judgement, so I am simply making the argument at very least for it to be a good quality about what we advise people.

This bill is questionable in a number of respects, and in particular, as has been highlighted by my right honourable friend and others in the way that it presents the future management and control of apprenticeships and standards associated with them. It is right that employers pay a key role in that process and this bill is silent on the role of employers. I am not an unbridled admirer of apprenticeships. I didn't create it. In my time as minister and shadow minister indeed, the standards were guaranteed by skills councils, and I would have gone for a sector-based approach myself.

If I stayed in office, I would have developed that further and emulated the German approach as I begin to lay some of the foundations as I was minister, so I would have gone for Guild-based approach, rather than where we ended, but having said that, what is critical about either that kind of sectorial approach or apprenticeships being abolished by this bill is that the role of employers ensures that we meet a real economic need. That is the critical part.

You can't detach that critical part. You can't detach that economic need from the structure by which you guarantee the quality of apprenticeships. There is that issue as well in the bill which is unconvincing in this respect about quality. My right honourable friend drew attention to the fact that if you lower quality, you can increase numbers, and indeed, the Labour government prior to 2010 introduced the idea of programme led proto- ships. These are taught outside the world, caught outside the printer ships, but unrelated to any particular employer or in particular sector.

That is not the way forward and any day munition of standards will further undermine the status to practical learning, so I say to the Minister if the Secretary of State is going to take back control to coin a popular phrase, then it is vitally important that we hear more during the passages of legislation about how standards will be maintained because at the moment we have very few assurances to that have very few assurances to that

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Just words or numbers which I wheel partly to underline my own wheel partly to underline my own effectiveness in government. Due to effectiveness in government. Due to effectiveness in government. Due to the promotion of apprenticeships, we were able to drive they are numbered to the highest level in modern times to the highest level in modern times and in 2010, by 2011-12, we have achieved 521,000 apprenticeships. achieved 521,000 apprenticeships. That has never been equalled since and we are now down to about 340,000.

By the way, to say a word about previous Labour government, I inherited apprenticeships and the average dropped down to less than 100,000 a year. It is vital as we debate these matters going forward that the government does commit to the apprenticeship as a key determiner of the policy in respect Minister was the partnership with the council and the Minister then was an advocate in the party of involving trade unions. Unfortunately, ministers after honourable friend excluded trade unions from involvement.

It is the former minister advocating trade unions be involved in the new system?

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I am immensely flattered he has followed my career so closely. He is followed my career so closely. He is right. I defended them and would right. I defended them and would continue to do so. Trade unions can continue to do so. Trade unions can play a vital part in ensuring the outcomes that the government and I believe in. This is a minor believe in. This is a minor aggression but I sent a delegation to Germany to look at the to Germany to look at the apprenticeship system with employers and the trade unions because I knew that combination of trade unions and employers was particularly important to drive the skills agenda and it would be useful to hear from government what they think about it and how they would engage with trade unions because it is not mentioned in the bill, no mention at all.

We are completely left to wonder what will happen, as my right honourable friend said in his excellent speech. We are left to wonder what will happen when the Secretary of State seizes control of the structure. There are a number of questions. The honourable member for Chesterfield made a good point about SMEs and a talent for me as a minister and a subsequent challenge for subsequent ministers is engaging SMEs and I'm not sure I was successful but I did launch a review on making the system better, trying to reduce paperwork.

Again, I the bill moves forward, what more will be set about SMEs? There is a good impression from derby, which I'm told is in the same part of the country, but you might as well have heard from Morris, as far as the decision. -- Mars. We really need the spread of apprenticeship accessibility which SME involvement provides. It is the only way to create the reach necessary to engage all the young people and adult learners to acquire those skills.

I have 1-2 more questions for the Minister. I already spoke about employers. This question about the status of the new body - is it the current's intention, as the Secretary of State implied that she spoke earlier, for this to be a non-governmental body? Anyone with experience will now be significance of the option. It needs to be at the very least a departmental body to have the necessary freedom and independence to respond to employer needs and changing economic circumstances and the Secretary of State hinted that might be the direction of travel but we need to know more.



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Members opposite our meeting

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Members opposite our meeting quite the noise but I remind the House it is unprecedented move and the government established the testing agency which is the same status as a party which performed status as a party which performed similar functions for other kinds of qualifications and test. Why was it qualifications and test. Why was it OK for the honourable gentleman's government to do that in 2011 but not now? It seems they are more focused on the process point, a similar process undertaken by the government, and not on the outcomes that will actually deliver for working-class kids that are

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interested in learning a trade. I'm not an advocate of the

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I'm not an advocate of the project and this bill abolishes it project and this bill abolishes it and I want repeated but I would have and I want repeated but I would have had a guild-based model which would have been independent from government because the guilds are government because the guilds are sovereign and closely tied to trade sovereign and closely tied to trade unions in the sectors they are responsible for. I would not have gone down that route. I'm saying this is a chance to do something better and I think that you learn from experiences.

I will be honest and straightforward about that. There is the issue of standards - how will standards be determined and delivered? Will that be done by an independent body or a series of independent bodies? Perhaps across different parts of the business community or will it be done directly by the Department? I think directly by the Department? I think we do need to know that. What about the fact the impact assessment said they would be a reduction in the number of apprenticeships? They are already at a low level, as I described earlier and they were at 340,000 and we can do much better than that.

The government suggested that the impact assessment that they expect the number to fall, at least in the interim. How much? 5-10%? 25%? We need to know more about that. The Secretary of State spoke that. The Secretary of State spoke about, as the Labour manifesto detail, the others and can be here more about the detail of that which would be required before the third meeting, the committee did, because it is inconceivable the government would not want to be more straightforward with those structural links of the role the other bodies would play as the government tries to deliver its objectives.

And so, practical accomplishment is something dear to my heart. William Morris is not often quoted in this House and that it's a sad indictment of the modern Labour Party and he said that amount of work is exercising his mind and soul as well I've his body. William Morris understood what I know many in this debate already understand - that it is time to again emulate the practical. This is of course about our ambitions for the economy.

It is also about those people who acquire the skills. There are lives are changed because they are life chances are changed. I started by speaking about John Ruskin and his view on these things. He said "The highest award for a person's coil is not what the gain from what they become by it." It is also about the difference that we make to individuals and dealing new skills - grow and develop and be proud of what they can do for themselves, their family, the community, and the

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donation. I had not been -- and they are a nation.

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I have not been planning on formal time-limit but perhaps members can restrain themselves to
16:57
Darren Paffey Portrait Darren Paffey MP (Southampton Itchen, Labour)
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members can restrain themselves to five minutes. In rising to support the bill,

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In rising to support the bill, without keeping too much praise on the honourable gentlemen, it is a the honourable gentlemen, it is a pleasure to follow him and, like him, I arrived at this place through the academic route and, perhaps because of that, I'm aware of the value of the vocational, the practical, the apprenticeship and that is where the value of what the bill hopes to achieve lies. I thank the Secretary of State, no longer in her place, for bringing forward this bill.

Seven months ago this country voted for change and to the beat another building block of that necessary change. On a visit to Southampton College in my constituency when we were busy making visits I met apprentices learning a range of skills from engineering, electronics, carpentry, yacht making. It was truly impressive, mostly because I would be entirely useless at all of those skills. It reminded me that investing in apprenticeships is one of the most effective ways that we can equip the next generation with the skills that they need and I'm pleased to see that with this bill the government is taking action to make sure we get the right framework to shape the apprenticeship system.

What apprentices want themselves and what employers need is a system that moves people into meaningful and secure jobs, full of the dignity of work that will give them success as well as grow the economy. I am not particularly obsessive about the structure of things all the way in which government departments organise themselves to implement policy. Like most people, I think I'd want what works and I want what works best and the truth is what we have at this precise moment, however much members opposite try to dress it up, it's not working for too many people.

And so I am pleased that the focus of this bill is on how we create an agency that will reduce the number of trips to jump through and focus on. -- hoops. And focus on outcomes and what happens at the end of these training courses and opportunities. As the secretary of state set out...

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Which hoops if you looking forward to the removal of? forward to the removal of?

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forward to the removal of? I thank the honourable gentleman. The best people to answer that would be the employers who have been saying to us time and time again, and I am pretty sure to come and his and I am pretty sure to come and his colleagues, the bureaucracy, the colleagues, the bureaucracy, the complexity, the system that had been complexity, the system that had been set up, the asked the best advocates about the need for change. By setting up Skills England, we can give apprenticeships that flexibility and durability that we need and that those trading need and importantly we can take the interests of employers and young interests of employers and young If the years since 2010 have told us anything it is that poor policy has consequences, and what we have seen as the structure of the last Tory government has failed to deliver.

That alongside a lack of investment has left the UK with stubbornly high numbers of vacancies due to shortages and to many people not in education employment and training. And on that, I would welcome the reflections from the Minister around how we would deal with setting up this new framework and strategy for skills development, how we deal specifically with those who are not in education employment and training, and whether a strategy on that would be another jigsaw piece in resolving this picture.

I know that employers in Southampton are crying out for new trainees, especially those with crucial basic digital skills, but even today, around this country, around 7 1/2 million working age adults lack those skills. Is that the golden legacy that we keep being reminded of from the benches opposite? All of that is changing with the structures that this bill sets out and paving the way for skills England. It will meet the challenges of today, and empower all training providers and employers including the Kiwi training and the south coast Institute of Fiji to drive the maritime engineering and hospitality and digital opportunities in and around Southampton.

It will also ensure that we reset the prestige of apprentices and the apprenticeship route and elevate them once again to that place of real value, and I do associate myself with comments that have been made on both sides of the chamber about the value of apprenticeship skills. It is precisely, and I say this again as someone who has paid my bills from being a university lecturer for a number of years and yet throughout my entire time in politics, I have championed apprentice roots because a piece of paper at the end of something is pretty coincidental to be frank.

The real power of it is what it empowers you to do, what doors it opens up for you and what it creates you to be, what you come through those skills. So, that is where the real value and prestige of apprenticeships comes, and that is why we are resetting the value of them. So, in closing, if we want growth and we want a well-trained workforce and this is a route to deliver it with this bill, and with the further action that I know the the further action that I know the ministers will be taking in future, this Labour government is whitening options and breaking down barriers to opportunity the people in Southampton and beyond, and that is

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why I would be proud to walk through those lobbies and vote for it later today. This bill is a crucial first step
17:04
Leigh Ingham Portrait Leigh Ingham MP (Stafford, Labour)
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This bill is a crucial first step in the reform of the government skill system. This government are changing the narrative around skills. When I was younger, apprenticeships were seen as something for kids. Bricklaying, hairdressing or being electrician. While these remain vital, we rely on them, and skills today can be about so much more. This skill undermines the saying that apprenticeship not just for 18-year-olds fresh out of college. In my constituency of Stafford, many apprenticeships are over the age of 25.

The majority of apprenticeships have been taken up for advanced qualifications. These know what they want to do may already have years of experience and who are looking to up skill, retrain, and take their career to the next level. That is exactly the kind of dynamic lifelong we need to see. But we can't just talk about improving skills. We need real structural reform to make it happen and that is why this bill is so and that is why this bill is so important.

In October last year, the government carried out a detailed impact assessment, looking at how this legislation will affect learners, trading providers, businesses and staff and the conclusion was clear. This bill is essential in delivering the manifesto commitment that IN many of us in this house to John in skills England. We cannot continue making the mistakes of the last government. Keeping that fragmented approach of the inner efficient system, we don't have a set time for it. We need a system for people trying to build their futures, and for employers wanting to build their businesses.

I was concerned by the 15th amendment of the bill in the other place between the establishment of skills England and the commencement. This will delay things and the economy. I hope through the Committee stage the government can minimise the impact this will have. As members across the house will often hear me champion, I am often talking about college within my constituency which is one of a small number of colleges to achieve office to outstanding rating in all areas.

It was recently awarded a strong contribution to meeting our local skills needs which incredibly impact on my local economy. This bill will only help increase impact. Skills England will work hand-in-hand with industry employees and training providers to make sure we are not just relating to shortages but we are actively seeing them. We had a sticking plaster approach to skills and anything else really. That must change. We need to be strategic and ambitious in developing the financed workforce for the future.

This bill recognises those needs and confirms the manifesto approach that I stood on. I am delighted to see progress of the people in my constituency can better access training and better jobs. I urge all colleagues in the House to vote in favour of this

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bill. Ironed all of my colleagues were
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Lee Pitcher Portrait Lee Pitcher MP (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, Labour)
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future where we overcome climate change, a future where we lead the world in technology, with opportunities for all. All of that at every mission, this government has set out on is dependent on a skilled workforce. Diverse to reprint ships that I have seen recently in my local area and the national horseracing college to the business in kidney to Jack who cuts my hair and I'm sure you agree, he is supremely talented. Phenomenal. Sorry, Jack. Everything this government has promised can only be created by having the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time, whether it is the NHS, housebuilding, security, apprenticeships up and part of the fabric of British society for hundreds of years.

They have made us the country that we are today. In the past, modern apprentice ships were met with great enthusiasm from both leaders in business. It represents the different way of learning, but in recent years, this promise has been unfulfilled. Both apprenticeships starts and completions have fallen off dramatically. The current system is not working, not for learners, for employers, and not for our country. We need a system, one that works for everyone, one that is targeted and strategic, a system that worked with local leaders and businesses to be relevant to the skills gaps that we have and that are holding our economy back.

We need partnerships. Most importantly, we need a system that inspires and empowers our teams and our people. Both before and and our people. Both before and Talent and ambition is outstanding. So many of them are raring to change the world, to tackle the climate crisis, to harness AI, to be part of the brighter future and all they need is the opportunity to succeed. They will make us proud. This is what the government has released. Creating skills England is one of the government's first acts.

They are already doing important work. This is an important step to reshape the skills landscape and get our economy growing. This governments number one's priority is growth to get the economy working again, not just in some places and for some people but everywhere for everyone. North and south, urban and rural, for all backgrounds and abilities. The fragmented approach that we have seen over the last decade has never been so evident in the lack of pipeline for skills that we need right now and in the future.

Skills and friendships must be at the heart of that strategy and there are too many industries held back for potential because of the skill shortages that we see. So many challenges are rooted in the skills gap. The housing crisis, hospitals and care homes not getting the staff and our economic productivity crisis is rooted into many people who miss out on the opportunity to fulfil their potential, so either they contribute to thriving economy. I spent my life working with water and the land.

This is absolutely vital and there are smarter ways to work with nature which are developing constantly. As we transition to net-zero, as we develop green energy solutions, we open up a whole sector of future jobs. In the coming decades, jobs and the blooming economy will be as important as factories and coal mines were in the Industrial Revolution. We must embrace that opportunity now and use skills England to get our people ready for the jobs and industry where we lead the world once again.

Britain has never had the biggest population or the most land all the greater supply of national resources, but we have been able to lead the world for centuries because of the skills of British people. We leave through technology, innovation and craftsmanship, through our wonderful natural talent. Britain sparked the Industrial Revolution, the workshop of the world because of the skill of its workers. And that is why I am really very happy to support this bill this evening.

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I am pleased to see that we have some young people observing us today. Before coming to this place,
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Tom Collins Portrait Tom Collins MP (Worcester, Labour)
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today. Before coming to this place, I worked in research development, leading a team of talented young engineers who are creating and realising new technologies to tackle the climate crisis. Some of those members were apprentices, some had been apprentices earlier in their careers. And we face many challenges, not least regulatory environment that struggle to move quickly with innovation but also finding relative contributions for emerging fields. Some of these challenges are inherent in doing something for the first time, they are also the result of the UK engineering and industrial sector that had been neglected and in some cases allowed to stagnate by political leaders who simply didn't get it.

I am pleased that this new government has embraced the values of purposeful mission led goal setting alongside agility partnership and a willingness to act fast and learn fast. Just like our regulatory environment, our education ecosystem delivers skills and qualifications that needs to become more agile and responsive, and this is an early step in the transformation to reviving the symbiosis of academia and industry. Anyone who works in engineering knows that there is no employee quite like an apprentice. Apprenticeships in body some of the most valuable skills needed in the workplace.

Social competencies that fuel teamwork, empathy, excellent communication and shared purpose, critical thinking and problem- solving skills built on perseverance and pragmatism, I can do attitude backed up by the hard skills honed in the real world. I have had numerous meetings with local colleges. They are champing at the bit to deliver technical and vocational skills needed for the big transformations our country is facing in digital, in clean energy, and in public services. They welcome our changes for bureaucracy, lifting, demotivating and burdensome attitudes around GCSEs and the changes we are beginning around shorter placements and funding bands.

They want us to keep going. I have been asked if we can look at flex ability about English and maths for 16 to 18-year-olds with requirements integrated into standards. I have been asked about further reviews of standards and further reviews of standards and They also want future levy changes to be more effective. I'm pleased the government is making change and providing the agility and freedom to act quickly and responsibly. We need innovations in the ecosystem of education and skills.

We can see a creative, industrial and innovative Renaissance in the UK and I believe apprentices will be part of it, and apprentices will be part of it, and the true power of the economy with skills and passionate people. I asked the Secretary of State to continue this work at pace and I would like to express the appetite to play our part in delivering the skills of tomorrow through initiatives. The people in Worcester are ready to back division and help see our country and every single person who makes it thrive.



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Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is an honour to follow such a passionate speech from my honourable friend. I was going to thank my
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Andrew Pakes Portrait Andrew Pakes MP (Peterborough, Labour )
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the chamber. I certainly think they should be mentioned more often. I also say it is going to have some Opposition members in the House during the debate. It is nice to have some but more would be good. We have some but more would be good. We have had William Wallace and John Ruskin for some they seem to be Ruskin for some they seem to be getting speechwriting advice from Lewis Carroll because some of the takes on what is happening seem to be through the looking glass.

They seem to be lost discussing the function of the body rather than the change of enhancing people's life. As the co-chair alongside my honourable friend of the All-Party Group Apprenticeship, I declare my I overwhelmingly support the new skills in one body. The proposal made in our manifesto and it is another promise being made and to this. The rationale underpinning the bill is simple enough. The scope of the Institute was too limited and letting too many people dead. Vitally, Skills England will work with young workers on the learning journey and signpost them through the maze of apprenticeship opportunities.

More than that, they will identify the skills gap in the economy and work with the council and the committee to plug those gaps. This matters because we have some of the highest youth employment in the country and we want apprenticeship up I can implement them. Workers must be aligned with the new industrial strategy. This is something we heard too little about from the Opposition panties in their discussions about this issue. The structure does not matter if you do not have industrial purpose, which not have industrial purpose, which this government will bring.

We must have cross-departmental and cross- agency work to take it out of the old silos. I would ask the Minister when she replies to the debate, can I encourage her to detail how the industrial strategy and new skills in one body book together to transform those opportunities. I invite the Minister to talk about how the growth and skills levy will fit together because it is as well. Admission is economic growth, spread to every part of the UK and build on a diverse range of services.

The mission will be hamstrung without a skills revolution and the first part of the bill shows the challenge. Employment and training has been in steady decline in terms of investment spending at the lowest level since records began an investment is down 19% in real terms. I know from speaking to business leaders my community Zelenskyy bewildering. They tell me Steele supply is often mismatched Steele supply is often mismatched against demand and it is difficult for employers to invest in skills.

From talking to learners, I know the journey in to skills are poorly signposted and often blog and learners often lack the numerous digital skills to get the skills they often need. In short, we do not have the workers to do the jobs that will drive growth and this bill will address. Apprenticeships are the golden thread that runs through this government's ambitions for growth and the new skills and one must recognise how essential apprentices are to that and bring them such a state of the economy.

The breadth, talent of apprentices has become. From butchers, construction workers building new Olympia, the fashion Academy. Recently, I was delighted to welcome engineering apprentices from Caterpillar in my own constituency who came to doctors. These will give young people a clear route into the areas where there is a skills gap at the new levy will give learners and employers flexibility. Overall, we must elevate the status of apprenticeships in our society and culture. I am not the crying University but we must end the snobbery that says an apprenticeship is second best to a degree and tackle the outdated ID that and learning is a lesser option for young people and you do not hear that Lucy drop in Sweden, Germany, so you should not in the UK.

My third question is how will Skills England work to elevate apprenticeships in the UK? My final question is this - skills and apprenticeships are the engine of growth and the ladder of opportunity. The Minister would have seen the excellent briefings in this bill from the co-operative group of which I am a member and we should not just be creating more apprentice ships but ensuring Skills England has a responsibility to improve outcomes for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, working-class kids.

This would ensure the new body has social mobility baked into it from inception, delivering better outcomes for those from working- class backgrounds and intelligent Skills England to thoroughly measure the impact. I asked the Minister the impact. I asked the Minister when she addresses, to consider the impact and considering like mine and the country of the whole. This is a wonderful bill and I am pleased to support it and I'm pleased to put my support on record of the ministerial team, particularly Baroness Smith and the other smack you has been kind with her time and brilliant with this bill.

Speak my focus is to make our community a better place to work and learn and I'm delighted to speak and have no doubt the measures in the bill will allow us to harness the talent of young people through ambitious skills reform, drive growth, unlock opportunity. Young
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Josh Dean Portrait Josh Dean MP (Hertford and Stortford, Labour)
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people are keen to take advantage of these opportunities and the confidence apprenticeships instill confidence apprenticeships instill in young people cannot be overstated. This month I had the pleasure of visiting Hartford regional College campus to mark National Apprenticeship Week it was great to speak to hair apprentices great to speak to hair apprentices and to hear about how they are filling vacancies in my constituency. In our community, we constituency. In our community, we can see how apprenticeships are helping young people to find a path that is right for them, develop skills for life and drive the local economy.

For too long, those opportunities have been out of reach for too many young people in our area, leaving those for whom traditional education does not work and want an apprenticeship or informal education through the cracks. Apprenticeship statistics crashed under the watch of the previous government. A broken apprenticeships levy let their businesses and young people alike and both are crying out for change. I am pleased the government will introduce a new growth and skills level, enabling employers to access a broader range of high quality training offers, providing possibility and helping learners to access opportunities that will improve their lives.

The employer a skills survey showed around 36% of all UK vacancies in 2022 were skills shortage vacancies - a huge increase from 22% in 2017 and the clear indicator of the damage done to the economy because of the lack of strong skills of. This government will tackle the critical skills shortages that have hampered the economy and willpower plan for change. We know that the skills needed for economic growth come from the community up. This bill will pave the way for Skills England to find and fill the skills gap, ensuring we can harness the talent of young people and communities like mine and deliver the growth for our country.

This bill will allow us to build a skills system that empowers young people and caters to their diverse talents and once again restores skills as a national priority. Most importantly, it will provide tools for young people to break down the barriers to opportunity and find the path that is right for them and reach their full potential and I will proudly

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vote for it this evening. This bill is a significant step towards streamlining and strengthening the technical education and a pretty system. As somebody who worked in different somebody who worked in different roles in the sector, I am a big fan. Many of us have seen firsthand how apprenticeships transform lives, dignity, help young people establish dignity, help young people establish careers. Unlocking potential has been frustrated by the client of been frustrated by the client of apprenticeships seen in the last decade and the decline must be reversed and surely that aim can unite the entire House.

That is what this bill is about ducts delivering
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Dan Aldridge Portrait Dan Aldridge MP (Weston-super-Mare, Labour)
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the step change in skills we need to rebuild the country. Constituents must be able to earn, learn, thrive, because of what we do in this place, not in spite of it. For towns like Weston-super-Mare, technical Weston-super-Mare, technical apprentice star fundamental to independence for young people and sadly for towns like mine, they had sadly for towns like mine, they had never really been able to fully take advantage of those benefits because of of the red tape and the Hoops providers and SMEs to jump through for some time.

We have seen a fragmented technical education played by red tape and inefficiency for too long. The huge possibility and expectation on this government to deliver significantly improved late chances for young people, we must bring down barriers and things that block progress if you are and you must be bold and restructure the state to deliver. Employers, training providers, and apprentices deserve a system that is responsive, transparent, aligned with the needs of the economy and society. Young people of Weston-super-Mare are bursting with potential and ambition yet they have often been let down by needless bureaucracy and a lack of direct opportunities and resources, the right information, advice, guidance to develop the skills needed by today's employers.

Communities like me have been left behind when it comes to successive skills strategies which overlook the nuances of local economies, especially when it comes to supporting the needs of small- and middle -sized industries which are Roman majority of tanklike men, but that is the football club, or the beloved grand Pier. The bill remove bureaucracy and will make the system work better. It allows the Secretary of State to move swiftly and respond to industries and deliver the flexibility crucial in the job market where requirements are constantly evolving and living at an unprecedented pace.

If we are serious that providing high quality technical education, putting the skills gap in developing the workforce, we must structure institutions to achieve these goals. You must also make sure towns up and down the country like Weston-super- Mare which sit outside cities and currently outside combined authority areas are fully considered and not the left behind. This bill is a huge step in the right direction and I urge all my colleagues across the House to support it. House to support it.
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Luke Murphy Portrait Luke Murphy MP (Basingstoke, Labour)
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For too long, our school system has not delivered, due to policies that simply have not. Businesses have struggled to recruit the skilled workers they need and young people have not got the opportunity the bizarre underinvestment in training has gone backwards. The previous government talked a good game and introduced things like the ship with big promises in reality ship with big promises in reality the approach was slow, bureaucratic, and did not deliver. It is worth noting and I've already set in my intervention that I feel the criticism from members opposite House today is focused far too much on the structures, not the outcomes but since they have done that, it is but since they have done that, it is The standards and testing agency sets the standards for schools and trainee teachers.

It is an agency that is an executive agency, just as Skills England will be. It was, it none departmental public body, just as I feel was. And the standards and testing agency were set up in October I feel was. And the standards and testing agency were set up in October 2011. So, I am not sure whether criticisms around structure actually hold any merit. And it is rather a distraction from the party opposite on their watch and investment in skills, apprenticeship styles dropped critical sectors are still facing chronic skills shortages.

And employers up and down the country have been left navigating a system that just does not work for them. That is why this bill is so important, it is about fixing what is broken and making sure the schools system actually works for workers, businesses, and the wider economy. To celebrate apprenticeship economy. To celebrate apprenticeship week, I did Basingstoke College of technology to talk to their current class of carpentry and joinery apprentices. And speak to leaders at the college.

It was a particular privilege for me because my dad was a carpenter, he left school at 15 with no qualifications, but in the trade that he learned on the job he had skill and pride in his craft. He did not have the opportunity that many young people I met last week in Basingstoke had with the fantastic support structures around apprenticeships today and more that we are going to build and all the billiard ways that an apprenticeship can help turbocharge the careers of so many talented and skilled young people.

But one thing that was made very clear to me in my visit alone is that they are massively unsubscribed for many of the apprenticeships that the offer. And that worries me because it shows that too many young people are not getting access to the resources they need to learn a trade and left behind by more than one decade of failure to deliver. So, I am pleased that this Government through this bill is working harder and faster through its very first education bill to be introduced to cut redtape and give people greater opportunities to start apprenticeships.

With 1250 apprentices currently training in Basingstoke, 310 just started at 110 completed their courses, the Government is already making process does not progress but there is much more to do. I want Basingstoke to be the best place for someone to learn a trade to start a career and build a life for themselves and I believe that is the bill that helps them do that, laying the groundwork to establish Skills England and taking a step towards a more responsive approach.

Skills England will replace the current fragmented system with one that properly assesses national and regional skills which is absolutely crucial if we are to meet the challenges of the future, ensuring we are training people for the jobs that are actually exist in places where they are actually needed. This is not just about cutting redtape, it is about making sure that our approach to apprenticeships and technical education is fit for the modern economy. I guess the system has been tied up in rigid updated rules that get harder to respond to the fast changing needs of industry like digital, green energy and advanced manufacturing.

The changes in this bill will allow for a more flexible forwardthinking approach. One that actually meets the needs of employers and workers alike. A big part of that will also be about replacing apprenticeships levy which has been too restrictive with skills and this will give employers the freedom to invest in a wider range of training opportunities. But as other members have said, we must put an end to the snobbery around skills and apprenticeships. For too long highly skilled and essential trades have not been given the recognition they deserve.

Too often they have been seen as somehow less valuable and the careers that require a university degree despite being just as vital, just as skilled and just as valuable to our economy and society. I am proud that this Government is changing that narrative. We need these skills to drive growth, we need them to build homes and the infrastructure that we need and we need these skills to deliver energy security. We do have the opportunity here to fix the mistakes of the past and build something better.

I urge colleagues to support this bill because it strong skills system is not just good for business and the economy, it is good for everyone.

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Thank you very much. As the co-

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Thank you very much. As the co- chair for the on party commentary group with the friendships with my right honourable friend from Peterborough ivory much welcome the Peterborough ivory much welcome the focus of the Government is putting on this crucial aspect of skills policy. The Government has inherited a wildly diverse and dysfunctional a wildly diverse and dysfunctional skills landscape. I would not go so skills landscape. I would not go so far as to describe what we have as a skills system, that seems to suggest something far more considered and structured than what currently structured than what currently exists.

This bill is the government's first very small legislative step towards addressing the skills crisis that is one of our nations biggest barriers to growth and productivity. It is almost impossible to have a meeting with an employer private or public sector without the issue of that UK skills deficit arising. And apprenticeships are a crucial but criminally
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Toby Perkins Portrait Mr Toby Perkins MP (Chesterfield, Labour)
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underutilised dimension for providing Britain's learners with an opportunity to earn what they learn opportunity to earn what they learn and are providing our employers with and are providing our employers with skilled and qualified workers who contribute in the workplaces and develop the skills that they will need. Indeed, the government's ambitious aspirations for growth will remain purely aspirations. If will remain purely aspirations. If the current failure in our skills approach is not rectified. Now, the approach is not rectified. Now, the right honourable lady suggested that the previous Conservative government's record on apprenticeships was a world-class apprenticeships was a world-class one.

IBEC to differ. In discussing apprenticeships it is with firstly identifying what is wrong with the current system. Before considering the extent to which this bill moves us towards solving those issues. Firstly, it is estimated that around £480 million was left unspent in major employers apprenticeships levy pot this year. The news reported in February 2024 that SME apprenticeship styles fell by 14% since the introduction of the apprenticeship. The cost, rigidity, and bureaucracy of the current system were all cited as reasons why SMEs do not now take on apprentices.

Level II and Level 3 apprenticeships particularly fault with 53% reduction since the introduction of the levy and a growing portion of the levy pot being spent on degree level courses. The degree level of mentorship should be a huge social tool. With learners that might be dissuaded from attending university from rural backgrounds relishing the opportunity to secure a degree whilst working but without the debt. But, shockingly, recent research shows the degree apprenticeships are very much being swept up by the wealth, but with free school meals pupils being less likely to get a degree apprenticeship than they are to get a place at Oxbridge.

Finally, the completion rate of apprenticeships is worryingly low at just 54.3% of all students. Compared with 97% of A-level students passing across all of their subjects. This has many causes. And the Government has set about addressing one of them with the removal of the need to pass functional maths and English to complete an apprenticeship. But there also needs to be a much greater link between the completion of the apprenticeship and the fitness to practice requirements, because many learners do not complete the apprenticeship stop not because that means that they have failed, because they may well have secured the skills that they need to start work.

And do not see the mentorship is relevant once the job has been secured. So, there is a deal for the noble Baroness myth in The Other Place to get her teeth into. This bill is the Skills England Bill that not speak its name. I polishing the face, it is a for important creations of Skills England. There are important questions for the Government and sat. And I hope that when my honourable friend response to the debate, she will be able to enlighten us on a number of them.

Firstly, she concerned that Skills England will have the necessary weight and independence to bring about the scale of change that their own report acknowledged was needed? What will the extended scope of Skills England be beyond the identification of standards? And the potential alternative use of the government's new growth skills levy. If she is not clear on what steps should Skills England will take without IfATE is she concerned that abolishing IfATE without being clear and what the responsibility for those will fall.

Can she say any more about how the voice of employers will be heard when these powers are centralised by the Secretary of State. I think that huge enthusiasm for the Secretary of State taking a more streamlined approach on occasions to the process of creating new standards, I think IfATE is seen as too cumbersome. Does the Minister agree that it must be the exception rather than the rule? And how will she ensure that those voices are still heard? And she confirmed that the power to approve standards will be indeed passed to Skills England once that has been created? And can she say any more about what the role of Skills England will be with regards to the growth of the skills levy? I very much welcome Baroness Smith's announcement about removing the need For over 19 students.

It has merit a friend and any research on the merits of this students under the age of 19? I would be interested in understanding the argument in favour of that change for over 19 is that do not apply to those students under 19. So, I hugely welcome the government's commitment to this area of policy and the positive initial steps that have been made. I suspect it will not be news to my honourable friend is to know that I think that there are far greater systemic changes needed if we are going to deliver the transformational changes

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that our employers, our learners, and indeed our nation, desperately needs. Lauren Edwards.

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Lauren Edwards. Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will not be supporting the amendment, but speaking in the amendment, but speaking in favour of the bill. As many have highlighted, there is a gap between the skills needed by employers and the skills needed by employers and the skills held by the UK workforce. Skills shortage vacancies have been Skills shortage vacancies have been on the rise year after year. The latest data shows 1/3 of all latest data shows 1/3 of all vacancies due to skills shortages.

It is holding our country back, and therefore the system needs to change. Now, the immediate skills gaps need to be addressed urgently, just as pressing as the need to have
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Lauren Edwards Portrait Lauren Edwards MP (Rochester and Strood, Labour)
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a single body considering the skills that businesses and our workforce will need 10, 20, 30 years from now. 1.4 million jobs are predicted by 1.4 million jobs are predicted by 2035 alone. And many of these new jobs will need technical green skills, digital skills, and understanding of Artificial Intelligence. If our Government is Intelligence. If our Government is to achieve the changes in this country that so many people voted for, more homes, green energy, and for, more homes, green energy, and economic growth that puts money back into people's pockets, then skills is the key ingredient.

And the importance of partnerships and technical qualifications to that mission really cannot be underestimated. I was immensely proud when the Prime Minister and the education secretary visited mid Kent College. In my constituency before the election. Two set out their ambition to put vocational education on the same footing as academic university education. If Skills England is to achieve its aims and help us to meet skills challenges our country faces then it must cover all areas. So, I really welcome this bill which falls IfATE into Skills England to enable that integrated approach to support our labour market and economy.

As others have mentioned, this bill will make Skills England an executive agency of the Department for Education. I am pleased that Ministers amended this bill in The Other Place to require the Secretary of State to lay a report before Parliament detailing the exercise of functions furthered by this bill. I understand this will also maintain the functions that Skills England will take on and expected effects of these functions. I likewise welcome the commitment to publish details of the framework that will be used to hold Skills England to account for its delivery and its relationship with employers.

The clarity of these documents will provide will be most welcome. I will also like to take a very brief opportunity to welcome the reforms announced by the Government during the mentorship week. The apprenticeship levy under the former Government, well meaning the word was, was too cumbersome and too restricting. For too many employers and learners. And as a result, apprenticeship starts fell off a cliff and the latest data on a project completion rates shows a completion rate of just 55% in England.

So, I am really pleased the Government has listened to employers and training providers and committed to make the new growth of the skills levy that will replace the apprenticeship levy simpler, more flexible, and employer led. I note that Skills England are tasked with carrying out analysis of the prototypes of training that will be eligible under this new levy and I look forward to seeing the outcome of that work that will be hugely beneficial to employers and apprentices. A common issue with the current apprenticeship schemes in this country, as others have mentioned, is that it does not work for small and medium enterprises who do not have large HR departments to help navigate the often complex skills landscape.

And nowhere is this more apparent than in my local authority area of Medway where 90% of all businesses are SMEs. So, I would be very interested in the Minister if they could set out how the Government will ensure the voices of SMEs will be heard so that we get an offender should framework that works for all types of businesses. This is going to be particularly important if we are to drive growth to all parts of the So it would be good to know if the government is considering how it can best incentivise approaches such as this, which will help usually by de-risking apprenticeships for SMEs.

Likewise, I know there are some amazing smaller training providers, amazing smaller training providers, fantastic women led one in my stitching Secord umbrella training. It is equally important that their experience is and needs are reflected in the new apprenticeship system. There are always risks associated with change, that is unavoidable. There is a Bisley some concern that the transfer of IfATE to Skills England may lead to A- level of disruption so it would be helpful if the ministers would provide details of the transition and how they would be managed and mitigated.

Doing so would help to provide assurance to those currently undertaking apprenticeships and other technical qualifications as well as to employers. And it would be particular important to ensure that the knowledge and expertise of staff at IfATE no doubt built up over many years is not lost during over many years is not lost during this process. There are other issues that it would also be helpful for Skills England to set out in due course, such as what changes may be proposed to the local skills improvement plan framework, and assurance that local areas will be able to prioritise sectors or industries that are key to driving the local economy that may not feature in the government's industrial strategy.

As mentioned by my honourable friend for Stoke-on- Trent Central earlier in the debate. Anything further, the Minister could say on this point at this stage would be welcome. And finally, clause 6 of this bill removes the requirement to review technical educational qualifications at regular intervals. Instead the secretary of state will have the flexibility to focus on reviews based on need. It would be helpful if the Minister in her response could outline what steps can be taken to ensure the quality and relevance of qualifications is maintained under the new framework.



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Before I call the next member can I just remind members very gently that their comments should be no that their comments should be no longer than five minutes. I called Maya Ellis.

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Maya Ellis. Like many of my colleagues here, National apprenticeship week has really brought to life the amazing really brought to life the amazing work done by organisations and students across my constituency. Just listening to a lot of the Just listening to a lot of the comments today across the House about how we need to improve the culture and perception around technical education, I'm minded to technical education, I'm minded to reflect on experiences of when I was in year nine getting high grades in electronics, and had an amazing teacher who considered if I considered doing an BTEC in engineering, and I didn't end up following the route but I do wonder what our productivity would be like today if our culture and our promotion of that kind of technical
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Maya Ellis Portrait Maya Ellis MP (Ribble Valley, Labour)
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route, particularly for people who are very academic was more around are very academic was more around back in the day, where productivity might be today if we promoted that might be today if we promoted that more back then. I'm really excited at the prospect of this building the groundwork for the new body Skills England to realise our ambitious England to realise our ambitious missions for opportunity and growth. I think one of the best commitments I think one of the best commitments in this government's manifesto was to link immigration skills policy in an effort to tackle the reliance on international recruitment for top international recruitment for top and inner panel I was on, a fellow candidate standing for reform remarked after explaining that actually he really liked that idea.

So be interested to see if his colleagues agreed today. Skills England will work closely with migration advisory committee and industrial strategy Council to develop an evidence-based approach to the labour market, which the committee is set to monitor sectors where skill shortages are leading to increases in overseas recruitment. Importantly, this will mean sectors reliant on overseas work will be focused on to ensure they are addressing their failure to invest in skills in the UK. To support British workers as best we can commence promising the international recruitment won't be standard choice for employers and skill shortages while migration can play a strategic role in boosting our economy, it will not be utilised as a means to address skills training shortages in the UK over supporting British workers here.

In general we are far too familiar now with pressing skills gaps, and the negatively affecting our economy, 20% of our UK workforce could be significant under skilled for their jobs by 2030 and 1.5 million jobs in England are at risk of at least some of their tasks being automated in the future. But there are businesses and organisations leading the charge in tackling this. In my previous life away from this place I was privileged to work alongside the Lancashire skills hub and the digital skills partnership who have long been pioneers for developing our skills landscape in this country.

And let put on record my thanks to Michelle and Kerry who lead those services, piloting programs like the skills we Which they midsection a success of in Lancashire, the previous governor roll them out nationally. The hard work also secured the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute technology which I was delighted to get a visit last week at their base in Preston College in my constituency. The principal Simon Nixon and many students spoke to me about the technical training they received in areas such as Health and Social Care, construction, counselling and engineering.

Vitally, the college collaborates with industry experts to ensure its curriculum is up-to- date and working with employers to support assessments, offeror mentoring and placements raise IT students. A great example is their working labelling trucks he reported a need for electrical vehicle training so the college embedded a new module into its course. One key need the college meets is providing increased opportunities for adult education and the upcoming devolution deal in Lancashire would undoubtedly allow organisations that have increased say in adult education budgets so they can boost local productivity and foster the right opportunities for the North West.

However, they do have a concern around the reported reduction in spending. For colleges with little work or struggling to deliver against contract, this might be less of a product my problem buffer Preston, they get 20% of their income from an operation and have been able to overdeliver for the last three years. Any reduction that was simply across the board would hit Preston colleges delivery, particularly in key areas like construction and is likely to add further to cost pressures already being felt.

While we are undoubtedly under severe pressure is, financial pressures at the moment, we need to be sure financial savings don't impact the long-term outlook, so I welcome the Minister's comments on that. What really blew me away Preston College was the feel of the place. It felt inspiring, modern, place to grow, and I heard from students who had negative expenses elsewhere but felt truly at home here. There's more government investment can do for the well-being of areas in need of growth, and that the opportunity we have with this bill.

We are using other business operating within my constituency offering fantastic training and skills opportunities completely through partnerships. What really moved me on my visit recently which I was delighted the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills Baroness Smith was able to join, was that one young person who had tried a few times to get a role at BAE Systems and because of the multitude of inclusive routes that BAE provide for young people to end up on one of their apprenticeships, eventually found a routine that allowed its potential to shine and allow him to secure a role.

I know from having worked in economic in Lancashire in the past that many of the local SMEs in the past benefited previously from BAE Systems on apprenticeship program so there is a supplier of apprentices who can flow into the surrounding SME chain. As many people noted, the big challenges we have is how to support SMEs does what friendships they may only need one or two. The route that BAE went down came the targeted government funding, and I would welcome this government considering something similar.

They have the training structured to provide support much more efficiently than most SMEs would do trying to do it themselves, so should maximise our productivity in how we train people by making most of the successful structures we orally have. I'm also delighted to say that half the people starting friendships in the past year were aged over 25. People within my constituency are ambitious and committed to lifelong learning. I fully support this bill and can't wait to see Skills England established to support those looking to improve their skills by bringing about a more data driven and joined

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up system for all of us. It's often said that the UK is

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It's often said that the UK is increasingly a knowledge economy, a increasingly a knowledge economy, a place where our growth and jobs Both in trading ideas and information as in trading ideas and information as well as physical goods. And I think that this government's plan for growth clearly recognises that and growth clearly recognises that and placed our strengths, which is now why we are the second most why we are the second most attractive country to invest in globally, according to a recent PwC globally, according to a recent PwC report.

However, it's absolutely vital that the benefits of this are felt equally across our country. Areas with proud industrial heritage is like my constituency of Mansfield did not get the investment and training programs they needed on the
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Steve Yemm Portrait Steve Yemm MP (Mansfield, Labour)
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trapped in stable and low quality employment or leaving their home towns to seek opportunity elsewhere in the country. And my election in July was a resounding faux fur change in Mansfield, and my first mission for the constituency was to fight for a growing economy with fight for a growing economy with good quality jobs for everyone. And for this reason, I will be very pleased to vote for today's bill, which is a major step in the progress of this government's reform of the skills and apprenticeship system.

Apprenticeships are a critical component for high quality jobs in Mansfield and on my visits to businesses around my constituency I've been fortunate enough to see the great work already being done by some of our employers, working in partnership with the College and Nottingham Trent University. This includes local aerospace and nuclear electronics company claimed there recently took on 60 apprentices, meat and power saving solutions, capita in Mansfield who are doing particularly good work to support people with disabilities to access and sustain employment.

Through apprenticeships. So the opportunities they are providing are not just for school leavers. They also to those who are retraining and getting back into the world of work. We can't underestimate the importance of that. The individuals themselves, the local economy, and for productivity and growth nationally. And we need to be doing more in order to encourage that type of opportunity across the country and in my constituency of Mansfield. And therefore, I welcome the changes that were voted on today, in particular the transfer of powers from the old Institute to the new Skills England body.

And the apprenticeship levy. These two measures will help bring together a patchwork schemes and organisations that currently exist under one roof into a more flexible system and give our training provide us the support they need. Britain needs to begin the process of reskilling workers. And like to draw attention to the work of Nottingham Trent to encourage adult learners that facilitate direct entry into the renewable workforce, another great example. I expect the impacts of this to be transformative Mansfield in the long term, and for this reason I'd like to invite the Minister to come and visit my constituency.

She will appeal to see for herself the start that has been made in upskilling our young people and adults as well as just how far these changes will go in delivery, secure fulfilling well paid employment. We have significant latent potential, and I believe that a collaboration between local businesses, further and higher education and the government will support our former neglected area to

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realise the potential we have. Too many young people are being

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Too many young people are being let down by skills and training system that doesn't work for them. For too long Britain has been a country where technical education country where technical education was treated as second-class, where skills shortages stifle success and skills shortages stifle success and where talent went untapped. Let's be clear, the Conservatives legacy has
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Kirith Entwistle Portrait Kirith Entwistle MP (Bolton North East, Labour)
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clear, the Conservatives legacy has failed young people and they can't keep using the pandemic as an excuse. 41% of young people aged 16 to 24 were economically inactive in the north-west between October 2023 and September 2024. Nationally the number was 11.4%. So I'd be really interested to hear what members opposite have to say to young people in the north-west. Within the last two years, skills shortages have left more than 1/3 of UK vacancies unfilled while the number of 16 to 24-year-olds looking for work has doubled.

That's over 420,000 young people wanting to work, wanting to contribute to our economy, but without the right training, they can't get the jobs that need filling. Jobs they could thrive in if we have the right skill system. Our young people are not lazy. Rather it's a system the Conservatives left behind as failed them. Visiting businesses in Bolton, and employers are desperate for skilled workers and they recognise skills training and apprenticeships as a way forward. The young apprentices I met in Bolton are thriving.

They have security, skills and a clear path ahead, and that confidence is transforming lives and livelihoods. That's why am proud that through this bill, this Labour government is establishing Skills England. Because skills are not second-class, they are the backbone Skills England will break barriers, barriers that have left entire regions, like mine, behind. In Bolton have already seen what works. Bolton has a girls club and charity onside and has achieved remarkable success with its Ontrack initiative. This program provides one-to-one support for young people who are not in education, employment or training.

Offering practical help with interview operation visits to businesses. But more than that, it broadens the horizons, showing them the many missing alternatives to the traditional university route. Pathways that may better suit their skills and actions. I recently visited Bolton College, like many other colleagues, during National mentorship week. There apprenticeship program is another shining example of how investment in skills transforms lives. From health and early years education to engineering additional skills and low carbon construction, Bolton College is equipping young people with the expertise businesses early -- urgently need.

During my visit, it was clear that these original restrictions allowing funds to cover training directly preventing businesses from hiring apprentices, so I sincerely hope that Skills England will review the learning so that more people can earn while they learn and employers can fill those critical skills gaps. The successes critical skills gaps. The successes of onside Bolton College provide proof of what happens when we invest in skills and opportunities and now we must take these lessons and scale them up fashionably.

These skills they learned are not just about education forward, it is an economic necessity and critical for growth, because Britain cannot build, grow, or lead without a workforce of skilled for the future. But let's also be clear about what Skills England is not. It is not more read to, not just another Government agency. Skills England is a promise, a promise to young people that their future does not have to follow a path. It promised to businesses that they will have the workforce that they need to thrive.

And I promised that Britain's best days are ahead and not behind. We need more builders, engineers, carers, welders. The people who powered this country. And I proud that the Labour Government is ending the stigma around schools and putting friendships on an equal footing with academia and I wholeheartedly support this bill and the opportunity Skills England will provide for my constituents, not least for the young people. least for the young people.

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Thank you. I have been proudly heading the skills and traits at the since arriving in this place. Because unfortunately one of the most toxic aspect of the previous Government is a crisis in education and training with overwhelming barriers to opportunity to far to barriers to opportunity to far to many young people and it will down pairing of practical skills not only in the eyes of students but often their parents and wider community. A stark contrast to what we see across Europe, Australia, and the USA.

Apprenticeships are for young people Apprenticeships are for young people a pathway to success and one that is not only vital for our communities but is practical, hands-on and deeply connected to the industries that our economy. We must start by ensuring that we value all pathways and people if we are going to make a move towards a productive, highly skilled population. And achieve our growth targets. Vocational training is hugely important. However, in is hugely important. However, in 2022, we had nearly 340 mentorship starts compared to 11 years before that with 520.

You invite city of Portsmouth are not always able to
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Amanda Martin Portrait Amanda Martin MP (Portsmouth North, Labour)
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access about paid jobs despite there being many opportunities on our doorstep, from defence, maritime space science and trade sector to name a few. We must improve and promote location pathways for promote location pathways for increasing the number of pathways available. Apprenticeship completion rates, increasing financial support, and increasing the vexed ability of these courses. I believe bill these courses. I believe bill establishes Skills England as the first step to achieving some of the first step to achieving some of the much-needed elevation of our skills sector.

Only if there friendships are currently completed at shockingly low systems and this could be improved by increasing financial support, so it is welcome to see the 18% increase in the rate of play from April to help make friendships more attractive. However, it would be good to see more targeted support made available to those who have dependents and other financial responsibilities. I welcome the government's commitment to really look at that levy and the level of friendships. Adopting a structure and increasing fix ability in friendships could significantly boost completion rates by providing a more adaptable learning experience.

Increasing flexibility also increases needs and life circumstances, making it easier for apprentices to balance work training alongside personal and financial commitments. I look forward to Skills England examining these issues is a new chapter for innovative thinking on friendships. In my constituency the city of Portsmouth College is the centre of excellence for training, especially in the areas of gas engineering, there and heat engineering providing a critical role in people's skills that they need and we need is a city and a country.

The colleges gas assessment centre is now the leading provider of gas assessment training in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and West Sussex. Ensuring our region remains at the front of these essential industries. From skilled trades like bricklayers, electrical engineering, carpentry and blustery, to professional careers in business administrating and counting and early get education. The range of causes reflects the direct need of our local workforce. Crucially, these programs were supported by strong partnerships with major employers, BAE, Airbus, Queen Alexandra Hospital met the NHS, and, of course, the Royal Navy.

These partnerships ensure that apprentices are not just a direct link to potential careers but mean that students can feel the value of training and the future opportunities. The success of this approach is evident and we are particularly proud to mention James Rowland, and apprentice in refrigeration and heat pump engineering who won silver in the world skills UK RAC competition in December. An incredible achievement that showcases that hike calibre of training and people in my city. We must also recognise the importance of sustainability in our skills development, and only at this year the city of Portsmouth College facilities and access to green skills funding, enabling local plumbing and heating businesses, particularly small and medium advisers in sustainability.

This is essentially in-line with forwardthinking initiatives that ensures our work remains prepared for the challenges of the future and I am proud my city is bracing and looking forward to extending these

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opportunities with Skills England. Thank you. The Government that is

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Thank you. The Government that is ambitious about growth also needs to be serious about skills because without the workforce training to build the homes that we need, insulin them, and install the next generation of charging structure, generation of charging structure, deliver excellent healthcare and social care and deliver excellent social care and deliver excellent early as education, none of these are achievable. Skills been good, often well paid jobs, often well paid jobs, apprenticeships are a driver for social and I determined that my constituents feel the benefit of these opportunities.

Skills England has much to do to altogether if and skills landscape and deliver real change. This bill will enable it to make it solid start. My constituency is home to an excellent further education college. You are already doing so much to offer young people to develop the skills of the future. Everything from social care to sustainable technologies, from working in pharmaceuticals to construction. There are currently
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Peter Swallow Portrait Peter Swallow MP (Bracknell, Labour)
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training over 100 electrical installation friendships, for installation friendships, for example, apprentices, for example. Providing them with hands-on training in state-of-the-art training in state-of-the-art electrical installation workshops renovated with more than £200,000 of investment. This facility ensures investment. This facility ensures that the landscape has practical insurance with the latest industry standard equipment, preparing the high demand roles in electrical engineering, construction, and sustainable to allergies. Last week sustainable to allergies. Last week I visited the Forest skills hub and bite Nicky Burns, a small-business owner herself with years of experience.

The hope is proactively identifying with employers the skills gaps are, working with potential and existing employees to address those gaps and teaming up with education providers, including my local college, to design bespoke courses to plug the gap. All of that with support from local and national Government. Since launching in September, the skills hub has already engaged with over 40 businesses, offered to less of 2/50 jobseekers, trained 300 employees, and build to bespoke courses. This is a system working as it should, but we need more collaboration.

An Skills England will have a huge role to play in identifying skills gaps at both the national and local level and ensuring that businesses in the Government are talking to each other. Because businesses understand that value of these skills and friendships for their workforce. The head office in my constituency is just one example. They currently have 1,200 partners of live partnerships across their schemes. When I visited Waitrose last year to meet some of there friendships, apprentices, I saw the true range of opportunity, from people training up to look after Waitrose delivery fleet and maintain their bodywork to apprentices studying for tea level in finance and partnership.

And smaller scale schemes also offering employment like their building happier futures program designed to support carers. Some people, including those that have been put into care and into work. When I have spoken to Waitrose and other businesses in my constituency, they have told me one barrier that they faced offering to friendships is the inflexibility of the friendship learning at the overly burdensome requirements needed to run and recruit two and a partnership. That is why the government's reforms to ships announced two weeks ago are so very welcome.

To provide more flux ability for employers those wanting to take up these opportunities. Shortening the length of some friendships, scrapping the need to pass additional maths GCSE is for apprentices. This is a commonsense change backed by business. To be successful, Skills England will also need to get a grip on that of time it currently takes to update frameworks to ensure apprenticeships remain always at the cutting-edge. And it is also vital that opportunities be genuinely open to all, including those with additional needs.

Our data shows that only 29% of autistic people in paid employment. That is not good enough. And more targeted support is needed at a local and national level to ensure more autistic have better access to friendships and skills and the council are currently looking at how the address this autism employment gap. Particularly through support into apprenticeships and other forms of work experience. Skills England has a huge job hit of it. In a country where too often we have relied on importing skills rather than nurturing our own talent.

Which is not progressive. And when to many young people have missed out on valuable opportunities, skills gaps are preventing us from letting, growing, and thriving. And Skills England is at the vanguard as this Government works to fix all of that. No small task, but one where the reward is great.

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Thank you. I am proud to be a

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Thank you. I am proud to be a Derby MP and to represent a city with incredible engineering, manufacturing, and technological manufacturing, and technological expertise and skills. We make things in Derby. And yes, we do have
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Catherine Atkinson Portrait Catherine Atkinson MP (Derby North, Labour)
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in Derby. And yes, we do have industrial giants like Rolls-Royce and Aston, Toyota. But we also have small and medium-sized companies in their supply chains and more broadly from across a wide-ranging of industries from realtor defence, nuclear energy to full production, aviation to digital technology and more. And what attracts so many businesses to locate in Derby is our skilled workforce, but I know that even our city feels the skills shortages we have in this country, which under the last Government saw a, which under the last Government saw 1/3 of UK job vacancies result in skills shortages and an uptick of level IV and five technical training in England fall to historically low levels, so I warmly welcome this bill in laying the groundwork for the establishment for Skills England to assess and help address our skills shortages.

Larger companies in Derby have happily invested in skills and apprenticeships like the Rolls-Royce nuclear skills Academy which offers 200 apprentices purge air working with the University of Derby and Derby College. An Toyota Academy which provides skills, not just for their own apprentices, but for partner companies also. And many of our small and medium sized employers are investing in their future by investing in skills. Like tech company who are recently visited and engineering firms which support apprentices but also goes into local schools, teaching young people that metalwork skills they need to make metal toolboxes.

But I have met many businesses who say that finding skilled workers is one of the greatest challenges they face. And that under the last Government they found apprenticeships to difficult and too inflexible to access. We are fortunate to have Derby College which is one of the largest colleges in the UK and the University technical College Derby who work closely with employers to ensure that they are providing the skills needed. And one of the students told me that what he loved about learning at UTC was that he felt he was We have 3,000 apprentices in Derby, but to know that we need many many more.

And it's not just people who are starting out that need careers. But we also need to reskill our workforce and allow those midcareer to move into new roles and new industries. And I want to raise skill shortages in a sector close to my heart. Last week, I and my honourable friend the Derby South held a meeting organised for us by the rail forum, with the rail sector about skills. And I often meet people in rail who talk about it as a sector as Britain's best kept secret.

Sometimes people who joined by accident but stay because of the range of opportunities the sector offers from engineers to customer service, project management and catering, digital roles and technicians and many more. And the Rail delivery group identifies the rail adds some 98 billion annually to local economies, 26 billion in environment and social benefits. But the National skills Academy for Rail reports that 1/3 of the rail workforce are 50 or over. And estimate some 75,000 people will leave the industry by 2030 through retirement or other forms of attrition.

And this year is the 2200th anniversary of the modern railway which we as country pioneered and its future is crucial for growth and decarbonisation, so I would invite the Minister to encourage Skills England to work with the National skills Academy for Rail and Great British Railways, which will have its headquarters in Derby to address the skills shortages we face in rail. I am really excited that under this government we are going to see a proper industrial strategy. And it's essential that we have the right skills and the right infrastructure to get the people and goods where they need to be.

And I echo the cause of my honourable friend the Peterborough in asking ministers to set out how Skills England will work across departments and support our industrial strategy. And I urge all members across this House to support this bill. Because I look forward to working with Skills England to ensure we have the skills we need to ensure that we have opportunities for all and to ensure that we keep

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our economy on track. I start with a fundamentally

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I start with a fundamentally important point, and that is that education doesn't always have two education doesn't always have two happen in a classroom. And that's happen in a classroom. And that's what this bill is about first under the last government, we saw a failure to tackle deep-rooted
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Sureena Brackenridge Portrait Mrs Sureena Brackenridge MP (Wolverhampton North East, Labour)
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failure to tackle deep-rooted skills, skills mismatches, a stubbornly high proportion of working age people lacking essential skills and a severe shortage of higher technical training. As a result, our workforce struggled to meet the demands of a technology driven economy while employers face persistent skills shortages. This bill however, is different. It abolishes the outdated Institute for Apprenticeships and technical education and transfers it skills, its function is to Skills England. This is a monumental shift, one that creates a unified, agile and responsive skills system.

Can the Minister assure us that this bill will underpin what good government is about? Listening to the needs of businesses, workers and learners. At this bill will allow more people young and old to earn while they learn. And develop skills which will serve them well for life. That by To these opportunities up and down the country, we will drive growth, reduce youth unemployment and improve life chances for so many people. Wolverhampton, and the Black Country has a proud tradition... I

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certainly will. My honourable friend is eloquent

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My honourable friend is eloquent in setting out the skills challenges of the Black Country. My of the Black Country. My constituency neighbours hers and locally, 40% of jobs need level for skills but only 16% of people have skills but only 16% of people have those skills. That is the challenge we face locally. Would you agree with me that Skills England should with me that Skills England should be set up and based in an area of the country that desperately needs a

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the country that desperately needs a skills upgrade like the Black Country? And I absolutely woken that intervention and absolutely support that wholeheartedly. Because it's communities like ours that have felt and seen the decline that have been particular with our communities, and this government is laser focused in reversing that change to unlock talent, unlock opportunities and give our residents a better chance to get their futures back. In the past few weeks, I have been honoured to meet such impressive apprentices from those at Wolverhampton homes, ensuring residents council housing is safe and well maintained to EV and Jake at Collins Aerospace, working on the future of flight and defence.

And apprentices from Jaguar Land Rover, Halford, BMW and Caterpillar and enterprise mobility. We've seen the consequences of a fragmented, outdated skill system. But now with this bill, we have a bold new direction that will empower workers, support businesses, and drive economic growth across our country. This bill will support apprenticeships now, and right through into the future. So we urge

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the House to support this bill. I'm very pleased indeed to speak

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I'm very pleased indeed to speak today in support of this bill amended, which I believe is crucial amended, which I believe is crucial to delivering growth, ensuring we have a highly trained workforce fit for the future. As some in this for the future. As some in this chamber will know, my job prior to coming to this place was teaching degree level apprenticeships in degree level apprenticeships in electromechanical engineering, and I saw their first-hand the transformative power of apprenticeships in delivering high apprenticeships in delivering high quality education while providing real-world experience.

Like all apprenticeships, degree level
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Adam Thompson Portrait Adam Thompson MP (Erewash, Labour)
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apprenticeships are a tripartite partnership between apprentice, university and employer. A model which has proven highly effective in this space. Our employers frequently reported back to us that apprentices reported back to us that apprentices were better prepared for their professional roles than their professional roles than their traditional degree counterparts, and degree level or pension programs have widened participation, have widened participation, attracting more students from deprived backgrounds and more students with learning differences who may have struggled with in the traditional university system. As a traditional university system.

As a Member of Parliament, I weave my Member of Parliament, I weave my background in education and advanced Manufacturing and in apprenticeships into everything I do in this role. I recently visited webs furniture training who train apprentices in bespoke furniture manufacturing, a proper old school Artisan skill that they can carry with them and make a career from all of their lives. Long Eaton that I represent the principal towns in my constituency have a long and proud history of furniture Manufacturing and lacemaking respectively, both towns are what they are today firmly as products of the industrial revolution.

And while the economy has changed since the Victorian era, bespoke furniture man factoring and by highly skilled irreplaceable Artisans survives. IKEA, robots and giant factories in China can't replicate the product of the honed learned artistry that remains the backbone of our British manufacturing industry. To survive now in this changing world, these are the kinds of skills that Britain must foster. The skills are an incredible means of spurring economic growth and resilience, outside of London and the greater Southeast and indeed in cities of the North and the Midlands.

Ilkeston and Long Eaton in my constituency are post-industrial towns in the East Midlands. If we get this right, we can protect and enhance their world beating lacemaking and furniture Manufacturing industries long into the future. If we are going to build the 1.5 million homes this government has promised in the next five years, and hopefully many more after that, if we are to build the new towns, railway lines can the reservoirs, the prisons, all of the things that this country has so long failed to invest in, we will need the electricians, carpenters, the joiners, the builders, the welders and the plumbers that apprenticeship providers are training across our country.

Finally, I'd like to present a case study about my good friend and colleague Councillor Harry Atkinson in a rush, Harry was one of the many young new councillors elected when Labour took control of the county. Next year he will be error washes youngest ever mayor. He is also a highly skilled engineer, leaving at a time when half of this cohort were going to university, he instead got a apprenticeship at the power station, until last autumn was the last operational coal station in Britain.

He's worked there for nearly a decade and become so skilled he's been promoted to managerial fund is now a key troubleshooter when things go wrong. And while Radcliffe is now in its decommissioning stage, Harry can be assured of his future. There is ample demand for his skills that he learned through his friendship both locally and across the country. Harry story Robson is the power of an apprenticeship. The conversion of hard work into real skills and a short career and good pay.

It's these kind of jobs that we need to create for our young people. It's on us, on this government to build a future where this kind of apprenticeship success story is the norm, not the exception. And where an apprenticeship holds every bit as much value as a degree. Every bit as desirable for children and parents and every bit as much a cornerstone

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of our growing economy. I warmly welcome this bill, which clearly demonstrates the government's ambitious commitment to training and apprenticeship. And like to concentrate my contribution like to concentrate my contribution on the role that Skills England will play in aligning apprenticeship opportunities with the needs of opportunities with the needs of local economies. Scarborough and Whitby are indeed beautiful places Whitby are indeed beautiful places to both live and to visit. But the levels of low-paid employment are levels of low-paid employment are not so appealing.

According to the latest ONS figures, 26% of all jobs were paid below the real living wage in my constituency of Scarborough and Whitby. And on closer examination, the figures are even more alarming. For example, 52% of part-time jobs done by women were paid below the real living wage. The figure for England was 32%, and in Yorkshire and Humber, 35%. That disparity between the figures for Scarborough and Whitby and the surrounding region should make us
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Alison Hume Portrait Alison Hume MP (Scarborough and Whitby, Labour)
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pause when referring to local economies. Coastal communities can differ markedly from their differ markedly from their hinterland. The work that Skills England does in assessing local needs and opportunities must anticipate what they could be in anticipate what they could be in future as well as what they are now. For young people in my constituency, well-paid jobs and careers are the well-paid jobs and careers are the goal. And this is the crucial time for the green transition needed to for the green transition needed to reach net zero and create the urgently needed skills jobs in the renewable sectors.

Scarborough is one of the closest harbours to the offshore wind farm sites in the North Sea, especially Hornsea for, making it a prime location for transportation of equipment and personnel as well as surface vessels. And the government rightly sees the potential of the creative industries to create growth. And we know the young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or those who don't live in metropolitan areas are often denied these opportunities. In the past year, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough has created two full- time trainee posts with partners Coventry University to deliver a degree course in acting and has a program for young people pursuing a career in the performing arts.

I want us to see us build on that, to provide far more opportunities for talented young people in Scarborough and Whitby, to train locally in the creative industries. And especially to bridge the skills gap in practical trades like lighting, sound and camera. As in some areas, construction trainees are urgently needed now and will be in the future. And I'm excited to see the government is supporting a new development, plant south of Scarborough to start as soon as possible which will provide 2,500 new homes.

The people building those homes and infrastructure should be trained as far as possible locally, and I'm pleased to tell the House that the construction skills Village in Scarborough is already doing an incredible job providing training for construction apprentices. It currently has 140 apprentices on its books. Providing training in plastering, carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work. They've also just run their first solar panel installation cause. 60% of their learners come from an area amongst the most deprived in the country, and a high number have additional educational needs, yet the record of their apprentices exceeds national outcomes.

I would ask the Minister to confirm that existing centres of excellence can be funded to provide more of what they are already doing so well, and in conclusion, I look forward to a future where organisations like the construction skills Village are part of the government's plan to boost apprenticeships and build a better

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Thank you. I welcome the introduction of this bill is a clear introduction of this bill is a clear indication that we are getting apprenticeships the support and recognition they deserve. I started my professional career at the my professional career at the training Enterprise Council for tech and Once upon a time I used to sign off training contracts for off training contracts for apprenticeships. It was always a pleasure to speak to young people at the start of their future. So, I the start of their future.

So, I know first-hand how needed this bill is for the FA sector for employers and for people. And it is incredibly exciting to have this back on the agenda. For the last 14 years there
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Amanda Hack Portrait Amanda Hack MP (North West Leicestershire, Labour)
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has been simply no strategic direction. The partnership between job centre heavy colleges applies in the workforce has been slowly eroded. It is clear that we need a reset. Those young people not currently in training, education, or employment, need that reset and employment, need that reset and friendships are part of that agenda. The bill before the House today paves the way for establishment of paves the way for establishment of Skills England, giving the tools to perform its new role. Delivering on our commitment to assess and address our commitment to assess and address existing skills gaps and identify where training can be utilised.

where training can be utilised. Since the apprenticeship levy was first introduced by those opposite in 2017, we have had a decline in the growth of training and areas that we actually needed. The new growth and skills levy to be introduced will replace the old system and include the new foundational apprenticeship for giving young people ever to enter careers in critical sectors enabling them to earn a wage while developing skills giving them tax ability over there training and existing system.

I have honestly lost count of the amount of employers who have asked for changes to the friendship levy and we will deliver. We are clear about our strategy and we are clear that it has to be cross departmental assault. We are also being home for the fast-track training to apprentices, so we can meet our target of 1.5 new homes being built. It is clear that Labour has done this before and we will do this again. More than two decades ago the development agencies understood the challenges and they funded training for sectors where there were skills shortages.

And I was part of the small role that I played in the construction Academy and to provide across the driver training in partnership with leaders in FD, the private sector, local authorities, all funded by the East Midlands development agency. Stevensons College in my constituency is a key organisation locally. Serving the community stop they have a strong role as an anchor organisation and we should not forget that. They have fantastic facilities for learning and creating environments for young people to grow and to thrive.

But it has not been easy, and exhort many FD colleges they have been caught under huge financial pressure in recent years stop we have to ensure our colleges are financially sustainable in the long-term and I welcome the additional funding for the sector whilst recognising there is much more to do. There is also the role for Skills England to support Constituencies in areas that do not yet have full power. My constituency of North West Leicestershire does not have devolution deal but we have just as much potential to grow as anyone else.

And if he engagement with local authorities to gems of commerce local authorities as well as Effie and the huge sector will be key to delivering that growth. Within our approach to ensure a lot of thought into how regions can work together so that we can move across boundary lines and remain in the same funded unconditional support. We have that ambition to drive to meet the targets, to go bigger, better than before and ensure our legislation carries the greatest impact possible. I look forward to the continued conversations on the shaping of Skills England and for avoiding people to develop those

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skills that they need for the future. Shadow minister, Nina Brown.

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Shadow minister, Nina Brown. Thank you. Can I start by paying

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Thank you. Can I start by paying tribute to the work of Mr Speaker and the Deputy Speakers are driving up the number of friendships in this up the number of friendships in this House was not it is not only quitting blend opportunities but it is also setting a billiard example, is also setting a billiard example, so IP tribute to the work they are doing. We have had some brilliant speeches today, not just from Honourable Friends on the side of the House but also really important questions from The Chair of these questions from The Chair of these Select Committee and indeed the Member for Rendall Valley and indeed a very good speech from the honourable member for Cambridge.

We do not always agree with the Liberal Democrats about everything, but the suspicion of centralisation, this is in front of us today. We have three main concerns about this bill. First, there were good reasons why standard settings was put at arms length and posted to employers. As we have heard from a number of sides of the House and in odds, this is centralisation and a lot of the Government changes, it will risk
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Neil O'Brien Portrait Neil O'Brien MP (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, Conservative)
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on apprentices. Rather than fixing these problems, the Government is reorganising. Skills England will be the 13th skills body in 15 yes. There's yet more reorganisation There's yet more reorganisation rather than focusing on issues and from the Secretary of State's comment earlier on there may be further reorganisation later on to boot. Third, we have real concerns boot. Third, we have real concerns of the reorganisation of Government will lead to harmful delays in addressing some of the most important strategic issues that we face and those concerns are born from the Government impact assessment, so as with the schools bill this is how centralising and with the schools but it does not address the real issues.

There are things that we do need to address in the skills system, but I slightly baffled as to by the Government started crating a new agency with the DfE and apology IfATE. It is worth expelling how we got IfATE in the first place. For decades, people said they wanted to make friendships more prestigious. And part of that was growing higher friendships. The number of people on higher mentorship from just over 3,000 in 2010 to over 273,000 last year. A huge increase first and that member for a wash talked about how good those degree of friendships are.

He is absolutely right. It is a route into and chose the medium litter graduate in 205,000 after tuition but a little for apprentice and more, they earn 300,000. But it is as well as greasing and boosting those friendships it is building to a standards-based approach and the standards shift to a higher quality and are led by employers. They have a number duration of at least one year, they have more of the job training and rigorous final assessments. That was much needed.

In 2015 and OFSTED report found that even though some apprentices had been on the job for more than one year they were not even aware that they were on apprenticeships. Such was the problem of policy. Things were being funded that did not ultimately benefit young people but did allow employers to pay a lower wage which is obviously concerning. The creation of the mentorship levy was designed to give employers much more ownership of the school system and making IfATE independent of Government was only part of creating a potter employer led system.

I pay tribute to the work of IfATE. The Secretary of State did thank them for their war, but I will find them. They have treated admitted 690 friendships, supporting around 750,000 baht in friendships last Mike Reader 20 1T levels, 274 higher convocations and enable senior convocations and enable senior leaders to set direction for skills in their sector. Their website is an amazing resource. Now we see the Government completely reversing the direction of honesty. While we lengthen different ships, they have cut the length of friendship statements.

While a higher mentorship, they are abolishing most level VII of friendships. I abolishing IfATE and in-house DfE voting independence in employer ownership. So, why are the Governments operating in a diverse direction? There are two things the

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Government are doing. Absolutely. Does he not see that they're doing precisely that because this is doing precisely that because this is what Mrs are calling for as much of is going to come onto what businesses are seeing in one second. There are two things the Government There are two things the Government are doing that are bad for numbers. are doing that are bad for numbers. First, while apprentices are exempt from national insurance, the budget, particularly the 25 million increase in national insurance is costing higher and leading to job losses across-the-board and what employer groups are saying about that is groups are saying about that is pretty damning.

The ID, the Federation of Small Businesses, the CID available. And the tax increase is focused on exactly the type of jobs that apprentices might traditionally get, so apprentices being hit by the backlash from the budget and second the Government are trying to move friendships, a funding form to other areas. In opposition, the Government of allowing employers to take 50% of their friendship fund and spent among other things. As the election grew, that commitment seemed to disappear. On the Secretary of State they said that the commitment of 15% was, and I quote, currently being reviewed, but then just weeks later on 9 December the Secretary of State that the Government was still committed to 50% flexibility for employers and it would be interesting to hear whether that still stands now.

But given that levy funds to .5 billion of spending, 50% of that is a lot of money to potentially move out of apprenticeships. You can argue that it is desirable, but other things equal, it will certainly cut funding for a partnership and in fact might also be wary that it will undercut the purpose of the levy and have high deadweight. In fact, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed out, in principle this could help employers to pay for other forms of training at the under employees would find valuable, but the history of the wider training subsidies such as the train to gain program suggests that the result is often much of the spending goes on training that firms would have provided and paid for even the best.

The subsidy, the levy, no matter its flaws, did its best to address this problem of deadweight and discouraged rerating by lodgment, so the firms who do invest in them do not lose out to those who do not. Since the levy was introduced in 2017, real-time spending on a friendships has increased in real terms by about 1/4 from two to 2.5 billion. In a written answer to me, Ministers have confirmed that the Department does have a forecast for the number of apprenticeship, but have also said they will not publish it.

And if it was published, surely it which were that removing half of the funding potentially will lead to a significant drop in the number of apprenticeships. And the same reasons for what the Government is going up to those smaller friendships and reducing qualities to offset the numbers from other Government policies, there are part of the agenda where we share the same goals and we all want to see these partnerships, why are people getting up mentorship? Although on average twice as many people started friendships e.g.

Air under the last Government as in the previously of our Government, we still wanted that to be much higher. Although we are interested in the same questions, we have got quite different ideas about how we address them. Part of the Government answer is to abolish the highest level of friendships to redistribute the money. The levels friendships the Government is axing currently account for just 9% of mentorship spending and a lot of good things will potentially be lost by abolishing them. In fact I have been contacted by firms who are read about the abolition of the solicitors of mentorship which is a great way into the law for people from less privileged backgrounds.

One firm who are really worried about this said and I quote this will really impact social ability interceptors like law, accountancy, consulting. The traditional route is expensive and therefore without the friendship scheme many would not be able to afford to do so. We also believe it will have a wider detrimental impact on the reputation of apprenticeships. It has taken such a lot of effort to get that going that it would be a huge shame to lose it and likewise level VII of friendships are opening up great jobs and leadership roles in the public sector also.

And 56,000 people they started friendships in the public sector last year, more than half of management friendships are in health and education. In fact there identified as having a key role in the NHS as own long-term workforce, so the public services will lose out as well as ambitious apprentices and because level VII apprenticeships are actually quite a small part I worried that the Government will now go over levels exhibit ships which is a much bigger show of spending and a lot of employers are worried about this also.

The Secretary of State size as I say this, so presumably if they are going to sigh when this aid is the Minister when she does come to her feet will promise it is not due to level VI, it sounds like the Ministers are going to be going to do that to level VI apprenticeships. They moved to make it less attractive to take on younger people. They have had 100% funding other than require the 5% contribution. We need to build on that, making it easier or attractive to take on young people, building on that would be more sensible than reorganisation, centralisation, and defunding higher apprenticeships.

This bill abolishes IfATE's to Secretary of State significant powers as a result but says nothing at all about the new body of Skills England which is intended to be the centre of the skills and ship under this Government and this is a pretty unwelcome surprise to some in the industry. In its briefing of the bill, the construction industry training Board noted that this was, and I quote, country to the previous characterisation of Skills England contrary to the ability of Skills England to be an independent body and cross Government rule and they make an important point.

IfATE existed to serve all employers, public and private and across every department in contrast Skills England will be part of DfE, the CEO of skills England will be a job share between two civil servants at the DfE. I am told by former Ministers that this is every centralisation to the committee pointed out in that speech and as the Liberal Democrat pointed out in their speech as well, you wanted me

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to give way. I thank you for giving way. I have asked some of the colleagues have asked some of the colleagues this question earlier under the Beavis Government the standards and testing agency was set up in 2011, testing agency was set up in 2011, so it's predecessor was a non- departmental public body just like IfATE and became the executive agency. It said the statutory assessments school pupils and assessments school pupils and develops professional skills tests for trainee teachers. It is very similar to the previous Government similar to the previous Government did something very similar, why was

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The honourable gentleman is

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The honourable gentleman is tempting to get into the history of apprenticeships in England. Which goes to 1856 first up I won't attain the House with details of this but the House with details of this but suffice to say it was a move from one arm's length body to another, but I think was better than either but I think was better than either of those things which is why we ended up there. So the act of a further reorganisation, the very act further reorganisation, the very act of a further reorganisation is likely to compound the effects of the budget and the decision to move upon ships money onto other things.

upon ships money onto other things. Indeed the government's own impact assessment states that there may be a drop in appendage of stance while IfATE's functions are transferred to the secretary of state. It says, the government sent words, the transfer function from IfATE the DfE could potentially cause a temporary slowdown in the growth rate of new partnerships and technical education courses due to the potential delays in approvals process resulting from this bill. It also says this may disproportionately affect disadvantaged learners who rely more heavily on these pathways for career advancement.

So there you have it, the government are moving money out of apprenticeships and the government will also hit numbers through the budget. But instead of focused action to boost numbers for young people, the government's response was to reduce quality, and acts upon ships to try and proper over numbers. Now we have yet another reorganisation, one which takes away from independent employer led system and will risk the government's own words, cutting adventure numbers and hitting the

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most disadvantaged. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Tackle minister Janet David.

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Tackle minister Janet David. Thank you. It's a pleasure to close this debate on the Institute for Apprenticeships and technical for Apprenticeships and technical education. I'm grateful for the contributions of members across this contributions of members across this House and for those excellent speeches that have been made. I welcome the points in question raised and I will go through as many raised and I will go through as many as time allows. As the secretary of state said in her opening speech, skills are essential to our mission is to drive economic growth and create opportunity.

To achieve this we need a skilled system which is fit for the system. In every region fit for the system. In every region should provide training options that lead to skilled work and provide businesses with the skilled workers they need to grow. I was very pleased to hear from members about the apprenticeships and vocational courses from their constituencies which has led to jobs. And I'm quite sure also to say that I've heard mostly from most members that have also said there are significant challenges in our skills system.

The acute skills shortages are a particular issue in some areas. Skills applied as much demand and there is not enough business investment in skills. But to be clear, this is what this government has inherited from the previous Conservative government. We urgently need higher volumes of high quality training that meets employer needs, particularly in key sectors. For example, we've already heard that there is an urgent need to build more homes in this country. By one third of construction employers report finding suitable skilled staff as a key challenge.

My
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Janet Daby Portrait Janet Daby MP, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Lewisham East, Labour)
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honourable friend from Tipton and Wednesbury mentioned level 4 and five qualifications. In the UK around 10% of adults hold A-level 4 around 10% of adults hold A-level 4 and five qualification as their highest qualification, compared, highest qualification, compared, shockingly, 20% in Germany and 34% in Canada. We must, and this in Canada. We must, and this government will do better. Skills England, which has been delivering England, which has been delivering in shadow form since last year is our new national body for meeting skills needs.

It will simplify the skill system now and in the future, combining the functions with improvements to existing ones, with one dynamic body. In its first report, driving growth, whitening opportunity, Skills England highlighted the critical skills Currently facing this country. Across the UK, almost one in 10 are over 2.5 million roles are in critical demand. The last Conservative government seemed content with this but put simply, this government is not. And my honourable friend the Basingstoke stated so well that this is about what the bill will achieve everyone.

It is about growth. Skills England's initial assessment of skills challenges in the economy together with the invest 2035 Green Paper published last year and ahead of the forthcoming industrial strategy set out how the in demand occupations of today are also expected to grow in the future. And as noted by the Secretary of State, these growth driving sectors... Excuse me. Include life sciences, clean energy industries, digital and technologies and creative industries. By addressing our skill needs, the UK has a real chance of being a world leader in these fields.

But we must do this now. We must not delay. We must build a skills system that looks ahead. We must anticipate for the future. And as so eloquently put the future. And as so eloquently put by my honourable friends, Skills England will enable employers to fill our current skills gaps, and those likely in the future. They excellently were able to recognise the need to anticipate for our future skills needs. Now in responding directly to the points raised by the right honourable member East Hampshire and the honourable member say notes and mid Cambridgeshire, users of apprenticeships, employers providers and assessment organisations regularly complain about the time it takes to update standards and assessment plans.

It will remain the default position that a group of persons repairs standards and assessment plans, using a group to prepare standards in every instance will speed up the process and reduce administrative burdens. In line with IfATE's current processes, all new standards and those that have undergone significant revision following review will, prior to being approved, published online to give interested parties an opportunity for comments before. It will only be in the narrative cases were simply and straightforward changes are proposed.

But these will not be published online for comment prior to approval. But they will still be mechanisms for users of the system to challenge where a standard or assessment plan wasn't working in

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practice and needed revising. Extremely grateful, and I appreciate what she is saying about appreciate what she is saying about that. But will she encrypt order set that. But will she encrypt order set out how that will be directed either by the Secretary of State or by by the Secretary of State or by Skills England? We need to know, not just the detail point of publication, but the structural

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publication, but the structural needs in advance of that, so how will that be settled? In guidance, statutory guidance perhaps? I think the right on the Member for his contribution. And he is absolutely right. These things do need to be set out, and they will be set out. This bill is about transferring of the role of IfATE to the Secretary of State and allowing the delivery of Skills England. Skills England will work with key partners, including employers, training providers, mayor strategic authorities and unions to form a national skills system to address skills gaps.

It will ensure employers have the skills they need to drive economic growth while creating opportunities across the country and building a highly skilled workforce. During this debate, I've heard members question the need to close IfATE and establish Skills England. This Government has committed to delivering for the skill sector, and we are listening to the needs of employers. This can be seen in our Reform growth and skills offer, but we must go further to address the fragmentation of our skill system so we can close the most persistent skills gaps.

The bill paves the way for the full establishment of Skills England by enabling the new body to take on and build out from IfATE's work to shape apprenticeships and technical qualifications. To meet the needs of employers and the economy as a whole. The scale and urgency of the skills challenge we face means we are setting Skills England up to have a broader strategic purpose than IfATE. It will include but stretch beyond the work previously undertaken by IfATE. For example, Skills England will provide an ongoing authoritative assessment of local, regional and national skills needs, which is absolutely needed.

It will combine the best statistical data with insight from employers and RFID key stakeholders and will use these insights to ensure design of technical education and apprenticeships reflects the skills needs that have been identified so we can truly build a workforce fit for the future. Labour markets and the skills required to increase productivity and economic growth vary considerably by region, and we've already heard from many members about the different types of skills that are needed in their regions already. Indeed we've heard this, as I've stated already.

Skills England will also therefore have a strong regional footprint working closely with local skills system so they can tap into the comprehensive suite of training offers that it will build across the country. Skills England will also ensure that skills sit at the heart of joined up decision-making across government. It will work closely with the industrial strategy Council so we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver a clear long-term plan for the future economy and the migration advisory committee because growing the domestic skills pipeline will reduce our reliance on overseas workers.

So while Skills England will have a broad and ambitious strategic remit, it will not be able to deliver the scale of change we need to see without it taking on IfATE's important work. Transferring functions through the bill is therefore vital. The bill does not however just aim to transfer functions, it also includes a number of targeted changes. Intended to allow the system for design and approving technical qualifications and apprenticeships to become more agile and responsive, which employers that we've been listening to have told us is crucial if we are to work together to plug skills gaps at a pace that is indeed required.

This bill will provide greater flexibility when designing standards and apprenticeships plans. It makes processes easier to engage with, allowing experts to investigate time and expertise at the right point. Now there is so much I would like to say in responding to this so many points made, and so I apologise now for not being able to respond to the so many excellent points and comments that have been made. But there are a few very pivotal bids I also need to mention.

The bill was amended in the House of Lords to delay the commencement of the bill by the year. Now despite many members of the other place supporting the aims of Skills England, it's disappointing that the peers voted for a delay to its full establishment. This Government is clear that employers need a fully functional Skills England now, and as I have already said, they cannot wait. Skill gaps in our economy are holding back growth and opportunity, and we need this bill to give Skills England some of the key tools it needs to tackle them without delay.

And I cannot say that enough. Skills England is in shadow form and has already engaged widely with over 700 different partners, representing thousands of individual organisations through roundtables, cross-section webinars and network events. This includes the Confederation of business, industry, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Institute of directors as well as a range of employers and representative bodies from priority sectors, including digital, life sciences, cream, construction, and healthcare. We will continue to listen to the voice of experts to shape what we do.

And on that note, thank you.

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Order. The original question was that this bill be now read a second time. Since when this amendment has time. Since when this amendment has been proposed as on the order paper. The question is that the amendment be made. As many as are of that opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary, opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary,
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None Portrait Division
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None Portrait Legislation: Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords]: Second reading: Division
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Question Question is Question is as Question is as on Question is as on the Question is as on the order Question is as on the order paper, As many as are of that opinion, say, "Aye", Of the contrary, "No", tell

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Order, Order, order. The The ice The ice with The ice with 70, The ice with 70, that The ice with 70, that no The ice with 70, that no 312, The ice with 70, that no 312, so The ice with 70, that no 312, so the The ice with 70, that no 312, so the noes have it. The question is that the Bill be now read a second time. As many as are of that opinion, say, "Content" of that opinion, say I, Of The question The question is The question is as The question is as on The question is as on the The question is as on the order paper, opinion As many as are of that opinion, say, "Aye", Of the

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Lock Lock the Lock the doors.

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Order Order order.

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Order order.

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Order order. Ayes to the right, 317. Noes to

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Ayes to the right, 317. Noes to The ayes were 317, the noes were

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The ayes were 317, the noes were 55, so the noes have it, the noes have it.... The ayes have it, the ayes have it. Unlock. Just checking ayes have it. Unlock. Just checking It's been a long day, sorry. Programme motion to be moved

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formally. I beg to move. The question is as on the order paper. As many as are of that paper. As many as are of that opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary, "No." I think the ayes have it, the "No." I think the ayes have it, the ayes have it. Money resolution to be moved formally. The question is as on the order paper. As many as are on the order paper. As many as are of that opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary, "No." I think the ayes contrary, "No." I think the ayes have it, the ayes have it.

Motion number five on education, ministered number five on education, ministered to move. The question is as on the order paper. As many as are of that opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary, "No." I think the ayes have it, the ayes have it. Petition Tim Farron.

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Thank you. I rise to present a

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Thank you. I rise to present a petition on behalf of 2830 of my constituents in Kendal and in the surrounding communities in favour of surrounding communities in favour of retaining, keeping alive the Kendal Post Office, the Crown office on Strickland Gate in our town. In 2019, we successfully run a campaign to save the Kendal Crown Post to save the Kendal Crown Post Office. And as a community we are determined to do so again. The Crown determined to do so again.

The Crown Post Office serves up a community wonderfully with fantastic staff, but more than that, is also providing a home to the Royal mail sorting office, and the postal workers they also do a wonderful job. Toulouse the Crown Post Office building would also mean to lose their Royal mail sorting office, so we are determined to stop that so the petitioners declare that candle Post Office should not be included in the list of 115 directly operated Post Office at risk of closure, further notes Kendal Post Office role as a cutie service at the heart of Kendal, further declares it should remain in its current position or should only be moved to suitable premises.

The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons urge the government and Post Office to reconsider and guarantee the future of Kendal Post Office and the future of Kendal Post Office and

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Petition, Kendal Post Office. I beg to move that this House do now adjourn.

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The question is that this House do now adjourn. Lee Pitcher.

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do now adjourn. Lee Pitcher. Thank you. I'm grateful for the opportunity to make the case for the economic contribution of Doncaster economic contribution of Doncaster Sheffield Airport in this House this evening. Its reopening is the number evening. Its reopening is the number one priority for the people of Doncaster and the Isle of Wight so as well as residents right the way as well as residents right the way across our region. Our airport is simply not just a matter of jobs. Though it will bring jobs, it's not just about the wider economy.

Though it will massively contribute to the economy. Our airport is our local
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Lee Pitcher Portrait Lee Pitcher MP (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, Labour)
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get this over the line. I will talk firstly about the inspiring local campaign that has kept DSA high on campaign that has kept DSA high on the agenda since the airport closed the agenda since the airport closed its doors 818 long days ago. And it's provided the momentum to get us to where we are today. On the brink to where we are today. On the brink of making the dream of reopening a of making the dream of reopening a reality. This is not the first time I've raised Doncaster North Sheffield airport in this place.

No. Since being elected I've asked many questions on this subject, and I'm sure honourable members right the way across the House will be delighted to hear that this is not going to be the last time either. The fact is that its importance is to so many constituents and nothing demonstrates that better than the safe DSA campaign. I'm proud to champion the campaign to save our airport in Parliament and hope my efforts in this place serves to highlight the wider efforts of local

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way. And I commend the honourable gentleman to Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme for bringing this forward? I spoke to him beforehand forward? I spoke to him beforehand soon as what I'm going to say, so does the memo not agree that government funding for local industry means that the rising tide lifts all ships, will have a great lifts all ships, will have a great benefit to the local economy and does the honourable member further agree that the support of all our airports in the reduction of air passengers should be for flights passengers should be for flights within the UK with even more greatly increased economic benefits to increased economic benefits to airports and constituencies around them as well as the tourism benefits

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that come from that as well? I thank him for his intervention and I most certainly agree that the economic benefits of a regional airport is huge, not just for local airport is huge, not just for local jobs, the local economy, but also for the tourist trade, which is for the tourist trade, which is massively important right now. When communities suffer the loss of major employers like ours did, it's easy to slip into doom and gloom. Mark Chadwick who I'm pleased to say is Chadwick who I'm pleased to say is in this place this evening and the rest of the DSA campaign team refused to sink into negativity.

They knew that there was no good business case to close that airport. They knew that there was no good reason to abandon our community, to repel the part of our heritage to end those jobs. The same DSA campaign and others have been tireless since the airport closure, fighting to keep Doncaster Sheffield Airport becoming yet another example I massively commend their work and thank them for their efforts, as well as other groups who are a group of ex-police and volunteers who I had the fortune to meet recently full dedication sure this was never just a job for them and I know they will be following this progress very closely.

Now, those members unfamiliar with our airport may ask why is this so important? When they made the decision to close the airport in November 2020 due, it was not just a blow to passengers, it was the end of hundreds of well-

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paid, good jobs in Doncaster and the surrounding area. I certainly will. And I thank my honourable friend

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And I thank my honourable friend for giving way. And can I congratulate him on securing this so congratulate him on securing this so important debate. I hear time and time again from my constituents that they regret that they no longer have they regret that they no longer have an easy access to an airport on their doorstep. Not only was it their doorstep. Not only was it important for passengers Doncaster airport was embedded into the business community. And it's closures and jobs lost and local closures and jobs lost and local businesses losing regular income streams.

Does he agree with me that reopening the airport will create new opportunities for residents in my constituency including the world leading step project which will deliver international investment to jobs to the surrounding area.

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Thank you for that intervention. Most certainly. I have already talked with the honourable member on the other side about the importance the other side about the importance of the regional airport. You're quite right. Globally and internationally this will make all

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internationally this will make all the difference. Despite the efforts and the best efforts of people like Doncaster mayor, the South Yorkshire mayor, and others, my honourable friend, and others, my honourable friend, the member Doncaster North from London, the airport was closed. To say this was a bitter blow for the community is an understatement. The closure of our airport hotel the reality of the previous Governments levelling a program. They felt back then like there was no levelling up available for the people of Doncaster.

It was not just jobs we lost. We lost local pride and the connection to our past. Doncaster Sheffield Airport, apart from anything else, is a vital link to our communities aviation heritage. It follows the finest international airport in the country, DSA was Aria Finlay with an RAF industry dating back to 1915. During the First World War, it was planes from fittingly German zeppelins en route to Sheffield. During the Second World War, Finlay served as a bomber base, once again at the forefront of protecting British lives and defending our democracy.

In 1991, when Flight Lieutenant Julie and Gibson's plane landed in fittingly, she trailblazing into the history books as the first time after 73 years, the FO's had a first female pilot. The airport's rich heritage remains evident that site today thanks to the incredible work of the Falcon to sky's trust which is committed to preserving, protecting, two of the most iconic aircraft in British history: the Falcon and the English Afro. When I visited them last I was inspired by their work, not only to protect these incredible feats of British engineering but to support and guide Britain's next generation of engineers through their work with children and young people in my constituency.

A link to our past, a promise for our future. I hope you can tell from my words how intensely proud we are of our airport. I hope you can hereby Important to my constituents. Now, allow me to move on to the business case from the opening DSA. I have spent much of my time since becoming an MP talking to local business leaders. I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked the same question : when is this airport reopening? Local businesses are as keen as anyone to see our reopen.

The understand how strong the business case is. With renewed conversation nationally about airport capacity and vital importance of bringing back growth, we need to look no further than a regional effort. Practically ready to go. A huge amount of work has been done in the background, led by Doncaster mayoral stones and her team to make sure that all the eyes are dotted, all the teas are crossed, and when it comes to it, they are shown the importance of the viability of DSA.

Roz knows better than anyone how vital it is to prove that reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport is not just good for local pride but it is a brilliant business decision as well. An independent financial viability assessment has been clear also Doncaster Sheffield Airport is absolutely a viable business prospect. The full business case projects more than 5,000 direct and 6,500 indirect jobs from a reopened DSA by 2050. A 5 billion gross value added to the economy. 2 billion in gross welfare benefits and the headline that really grabs my attention, a projected benefit cost ratio of nine to one.

What that means is that for every single pound in, we get nine pounds back in return. It is no wonder that the business community is keen to see the airport back in action. And it is no wonder that Dan Phil, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, has said this, "In addition to treating thousands of jobs, the airport will also act as a magnet for investment, help businesses trade internationally, further develop the regions give ability as a nationally significant hope for freight and logistics.

And support inbound tourism. " I most certainly will.

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Thank you I am incredibly grateful to my honourable friend for giving way. He is taking a powerful case to underscore his claim to be called Mr Doncaster airport. As The Chair of APG for Yorkshire and Chair of APG for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, I support any move that leads to greater growth across that leads to greater growth across our entire region. And I do wonder if my honourable friend would agree with me that we need to seize opportunities like this.

Not just seize them but accelerate the

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seize them but accelerate the delivery of them so that everyone in our region can feel the benefits of their economic growth. I think you for your intervention. And for the work that you do on the APPG in promoting everything that is great and needed in Yorkshire as well. And I could not agree more in terms of the economic importance of that airport for us. This is not just an airport, this is not just Doncaster, a reopened DSA is also a reopened South Yorkshire.

Opening the door to inward investment across the globe. Where once there were fighter planes, now there will be freight planes. Doncaster sits at the heart of our great country. It is already one of the major transport hubs and with DSA open again South Yorkshire would become home to new industry, cutting-edge renewable energy,

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technological innovation. I most certainly will. Thank you. I think my honourable friend for giving way, and as well as the exciting prospect of planes as the exciting prospect of planes taking up from Doncaster once again, despite honourable friend agreed with me that it is also is a with me that it is also is a diffident opportunity to turn both Doncaster and South Yorkshire into a Doncaster and South Yorkshire into a hope for sustainable aviation fuel? Creating those high skilled, high Creating those high skilled, high wage jobs for our local economy.

In that particular industry in our area and in line with the government's and in line with the government's growth agenda to ensure the economic prosperity is built all over the country, including in areas like Doncaster and South Yorkshire.

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Thank you to my honourable friend. For that intervention. I friend. For that intervention. I wholeheartedly agree. The importance of looking at sustainable aviation fuels and the opportunities that fuels and the opportunities that brings in terms of new kinds of jobs brings in terms of new kinds of jobs that brings aspiration and a future for our children and young adults in the area. I also believe that based the area. I also believe that based on the fact that people love to fly, they will continue to always fly.

We need that to be able to bring the need that to be able to bring the creativity back to our shores and learn from others. So, for me, it is massively a bond that we continue to promote technology like sustainable aviation fuel. If we are looking for growth, if we are looking for re- industrialisation, if we are looking to decentralise our economy away from London, where better to look than at airport that sits ready and waiting to serve? The promise of apprenticeships and high-paid, good jobs for people is another reason our airport must reopen.

And one of my major priorities as an MP in Doncaster. Like so many towns and cities in the North, there has been many of its brightest young people, we have seen them just leave for prospects elsewhere. The promise of regional economic growth is promise to our younger people. It is a promise that says yes, you can chase that brilliant bright future and you can chase it right here at home on your doorstep. Recently, I was lucky enough to meet the U.K.'s youngest pilot trainer and the world's youngest flight examiner.

We spoke about Doncaster Sheffield Airport. They told me how excited he was that day it might get to and on an historic runway. I went away from that conversation absolutely inspired by him and determined to see Doncaster's young people follow in his great footsteps. I will continue to fight for the apprenticeship and training opportunities that must come alongside the reopened Doncaster Sheffield Airport. So much has been achieved in the last few months, 20 million investment has been approved, combining funds from Doncaster City Council and the South Yorkshire combined authority that will go towards supporting the crucial early stage works required to mobilise and reopen the airport.

And operate Munich airlines has been announced and before Christmas I was proud of many of my honourable friend to witness the first fightback since the closure, courtesy of two XL who remained on the site all of this time and have never lost faith. Now, do not get me wrong. Things are looking great. In fact they are looking good and great, but challenges do still remain. Important practical steps to make Doncaster Sheffield Airport operational still need to be taken first of there are hurdles still to jump.

But Madam Deputy Speaker, none of them remaining challenges are possible. All that is required now is the political will to seize this opportunity. And get us over the line. Right now, the stars aligned. Finances, operators secured, the regional MPs are all on the same page. We cannot allow this opportunity to slip through our fingers. This is a moment to show the world that Doncaster and South Yorkshire are once again open for business. So, I asked the Government documents certainly can.

I am very good for to my honourable friend making it characteristically fun speech about this airport. My constituency in particularly have many people who have looked at the airport, and used the airport. My honourable friend spoke about, about opportunities to remain at home and still get on in life really strikes me when I speaking to young people. Will he agree with me that the airport is not just about flights on the ground but offering young people the future to remain at home and the

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bright future to stay? Thank you for your intervention.

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Thank you for your intervention. And, most certainly, people have aspirations, but we need to provide them with jobs, so there needs to be opportunities for all. What are reopened airport does is to provide reopened airport does is to provide us with great opportunities for a lot of different jobs, both in terms of flights and potential pilots in of flights and potential pilots in the future, but also superb jobs on the future, but also superb jobs on the runway and on the ground as well.

I asked the Government to make its commitment to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport clear. Can the Minister confirm what concrete steps the Government will take to support the economic benefits of a reopened DSA? And will my right honourable friend commit tonight to supporting the full reopening of our airspace and avoid any further delays? We have seen the results across our great nation time and time again when vital regional infrastructure is nurtured, is not noted, the political will is needed to sustain it.

It is something different that is needed is a big part of the region and the last election that we return to Labour MPs. The voters had had enough of regional decline. They had enough of being told that this was the way it had to be most of their wanted hope. This new Government, is to give them that hope and it must now keep its promise. My constituency office sits just across the road from the terminal building of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. When I had into war, I look across the end I see the building getting to the cup after a sleep.

As I have been told, this transformative initiative is not just about securing a prosperous future for ourselves. But also paves the way for our children and our children's children. The reopening of our airport stands as a beacon of hope. Offering unparalleled prospects for the community now and for generations to come. I am ready. All of us in Doncaster the Isle of axle already. South Yorkshire

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already. The region is ready. And we want to see those planes above Doncaster once again. Here.

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Here. Minister.

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Minister.

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Minister. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Shakespeare said some people are born great. Some achieve greatness. Others have greatness thrust upon them. I think it is all three in the case of the honourable member. I have to say as a Lancastrian I am feeling rather intimidated by that lineup behind me. But I will come more to that in just a few minutes. In Thank goodness I have got the Member for Stratford on my side. Maybe not my side, my side of the House.

Let me congratulate my honourable member, the honourable member from Doncaster is for securing this important debate in the contribution for Doncaster the contribution for Doncaster Can I congratulate him also on being appointed Labour's champion for utilities, what a great CV he has from working in the water industry to delivering logistics and infrastructure, so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to infrastructure and aviation. And can I praise him. He may be Mr Doncaster, but his colleague is as well.

I fear the division lobbies some evenings. Being rugby tackled day in, day out as the aviation minister about getting this airport reopened. But they care about the future of the airport. They care about their constituents and the wider South Yorkshire region. I've listened very carefully to considered comments from the member and from all members across the House, and I will try and address most of them but I want to say a few words about the airport. I know there was deep disappointment in South Yorkshire and beyond when the previous owners decided to close the airport at the end of 2022.

This marked the end of a 17 year operation as a commercial airport, though it has always had a long and illustrious history at Aria for Langley, and I think you mentioned as well the first female Air Force pilot in the UK, and we should not pilot in the UK, and we should not let that go unnoticed. Today in this House as we approach International Women's Day. I know it was well regarded by the people and airlines that it was frequently rated as the best airport in the UK, passenger numbers continuing to grow prior to the pandemic with 1.4 million passengers in 2019.

And I know from my many discussions with the members from Doncaster and around and quite a few of them again as I remind myself are sat around midnight, but its closure was deeply deeply felt by the local community. Indeed I understand that the save Doncaster Sheffield Airport petition had more than 100,000 signatures. That's impressive. So I'm pleased to hear of the progress made in its reopening and the benefits this could bring, for which I will come to shortly.

First I wanted to set out the importance of aviation to growth and prosperity for the nation. You knew I grew up under an aviation runway in my home constituency. Going to Manchester airport as a child and seeing those BA 111 is, the Tridents, the Concord, even seen the space shuttle doing a lowpass in the mid-'80s on the back of a jumbo jet was inspirational for me, and to know that aviation is inspirational for so many people as a career for the future.

Now growth is the number one priority as we keep saying that this government, and the Chancellor was clear in her recent speech about the importance of the aviation sector enabling this economic growth. The speech invited proposals for 1/3 runway in Heathrow and also announced a new partnership between East Midlands airport to build a new advancement of factoring park, unlocking £1 billion of investment and jobs. And that's a clear demonstration on how aviation can contribute significantly to the economy through being a key enabler of international trade, investment and connectivity.

It aviation is also a major employer in its own right. I see that in my own constituency. In 2022, the air transport and aerospace sectors alone directly provided around 240,000 jobs across the UK, providing opportunities in every part of this country. While overall in 2023, the air transport and aerospace sectors directly contributed over 20 billion to UK GDP. That's why aviation is a key component of the government's transport strategy, enabling economic growth, connectivity, and investing in sustainability by connecting people, places and business.

And regional airports like Doncaster Sheffield Airport and have an important role to play. They serve our local communities and people are proud of them, and they serve business by supporting thousands of jobs in the regions and acting as a gateway to international opportunities. Whether that's a family holiday, or supporting major investment decisions. They also provide important connectivity, helping to connect communities across the UK and the wider world. I've been interested in hearing about South Yorkshire airport city vision, which has the reopened airport at its heart.

It is proposed that a reopened Doncaster Sheffield Airport can help rise economic and social well-being in Doncaster North, delivering employment and facilitating wider development. This can help unlock growth for South Yorkshire. The council's business case indicates the airports reopening and why the development has the potential as the honourable member said to support over 5,000 direct jobs, boost the economy by 5 billion, and also provide wider welfare benefits of 2 billion wider welfare benefits of 2,000,000,000 x 20 15.

So I welcome the efforts of the council, the mayors of Doncaster North South Yorkshire to secure the future of the airport and the economic opportunities for the region. Significant progress has already been made with Doncaster North councils agreement to lease the airport, the return of aviation activities in December last year was an important milestone as to excel was mentioned landed the first aircraft there after three years. And can I add as aviation minister, my thanks and congratulations to them for sticking with this airport.

And another important milestone was reached earlier this month as the honourable member said, as Munich airport international were appointed by Doncaster City Council to help progress the airports reopening. There will be many more milestones and many more challenges, but as the Chancellor set out in her recent speech, this government will work with Doncaster City Council and the mayor of South Yorkshire to support their efforts to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport as a thriving regional airport. As well as the airport, this government is committed to supporting all modes of travel in the region to support the local economy.

In November last year, South Yorkshire was allocated £70 million worth of bus improvement plans, funding to support bus services, and just last week, the South Yorkshire mayor was informed
19:53
Mike Kane Portrait Mike Kane MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) (Wythenshawe and Sale East, Labour)
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he would be receiving over £5 million in the next financial year to invest in active travel. This is to invest in active travel. This is in addition to almost £9 million the South Yorkshire, and this department announced in January that this department announced low emission vehicles as part of the levy vehicles as part of the levy funding, funding for zero emission buses, proving the government's commitment to decarbonisation. South commitment to decarbonisation. South Yorkshire mayoral combined authority received 8.4 million funding from received 8.4 million funding from the separate one program for 27 electric buses and charging infrastructure.

Furthermore, the government is progressing planning and design work to support future delivery of our plans for Northern Rail connectivity and will set out details in due course. This will inform work being undertaken, the development of Rotherham mainline station, and am also pleased to be supporting South Yorkshire's local transport priorities 570 570 million investment through the city region sustainable transport settlement program. This is a five year deal, £5.7 billion government investment to improve transport networks in eight city regions across the UK.

As part of our commitment to local transport, we've announced in the Autumn Budget that we will uplift funds and funding nationally in this area in 2025 /26 /26 x 200,000,000 pounds, helping to improve local transport in our largest city region and driving growth and productivity. Whiteware mention this? Because it's a rich tapestry, transport, and if you have an airport at the hub of that, that's important. Because we know that destinations that airports reach are dependent on the public transport penetration time within an hour, so improving public transport and active travel in this area will help this airport reach the markets it once to reach in the future.

Now the Member for Doncaster and Islay facts home spoke about Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Airspace modernisation is one of our manifesto commitments, and the government is committed to its delivery. It remains a key aviation priority for the Department, and aims to deliver quicker, quieter and cleaner journeys to benefit those who use and are affected by UK airspace. We've seen great progress in Essbase modernisation in the North with airports now preparing for their public consultations. I know officials and the CAA will be working tirelessly to make sure that we reopen the airspace as best in the interest of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

I shall conclude by congratulating my honourable friend for securing this debate. It's an opportunity for honourable members to highlight the importance of Doncaster Sheffield Airport to their constituents and regions. My officials and I look forward to continuing engagement with both South Yorkshire combined authority and Doncaster City Council to support their efforts in reopening

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this airport. The question is that this House

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The question is that this House do now adjourn. As many as are of that opinion say, "Aye." Of the contrary, "No." The ayes have it.
This debate has concluded
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