Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to the leadership of Barnsley College in respect of the proposed merger with the Northern College on (1) retaining the ethos and mission of the Northern College, (2) having a senior leader of the Northern College sufficiently incorporated into the Barnsley College leadership team, and (3) governance arrangements which respect the history and special identity of the Northern College.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has worked with Northern College over a number of years following the college entering Formal Intervention in April 2021. The proposed merger with Barnsley College has seen a continuation of this work alongside both Northern College and Barnsley College’s Corporation Boards to progress the merger proposals. Negotiations are progressing as planned between the parties with a key aim of sustaining the Northern College ethos and mission at the heart of these plans. Future organisational structures are currently being worked through between the two Boards with a meeting planned at Northern College later this month, where Barnsley College’s Corporation Board Chair and College CEO will join the Northern College Board to discuss the post-merger vision for learning delivery at Northern College. It will be for both College Boards to agree who from the current Northern College Board joins the Barnsley College Corporation Board from 1 March 2026 to provide assurance that the history and special identity of Northern College continues.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made regarding on the manifesto commitment to roll out a direct entry scheme for detectives to boost investigation skills.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

It is essential that police forces recruit the best and most able people to meet the evolving demands of policing and deliver the best possible service to the public.

There are existing opportunities to join policing directly into detective roles, including through the Police Now programme, which enables graduates who may not have previously considered a career in policing to join in specialist roles.

We are committed to ensuring a wide choice of entry routes available into policing to help to attract a diverse range of people, skills, experience and are considering this as part of wider police reform. In addition, we are funding a Leadership Commission, set up by the College of Policing and led by Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert, which is examining the current entry routes into policing and potential alternative models to attract and develop talent.