Education: Polish A-level

Debate between Lord Davies of Oldham and Lord Nash

Monday 18th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

The noble Lord makes a very good point about the deep debt we owe all the pilots in the Second World War, particularly the Polish pilots who fought so ably, especially in the Battle of Britain. I will take back the point that he makes.

[Lord Davies of Oldham (Lab)]

My Lords, most British citizens are likely to respect the Poles who live and work in this country not for having obtained A-levels in English, although that is greatly to be encouraged, but for providing the skill levels in crucial trades—plumbing is an obvious example, but there are many other such trades—which we are clearly not matching. Are the cuts in further education defensible, given that we clearly have low skill levels in this country in crucial areas?

[Lord Nash]

The noble Lord makes an extremely good point. Of course, we have a lot of Polish labour here, particularly in certain skills where there are shortages—partly as a result of the booming economy—such as construction. However, our apprenticeships programme is very much focused on rectifying this.

Young People: Personal Finances

Debate between Lord Davies of Oldham and Lord Nash

Thursday 7th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Oldham]

The Liberals are part of the coalition. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Flight. This is not just a question of mathematics but of knowledge. It is quite clear that a very high percentage of adults who invest their hard-earned money in all sorts of organisations have no idea of the costs that have been taken from them by the people controlling the fund. The evidence is clear that a very large percentage of our population are quite ignorant of such costs. That is why we need financial education.

[Lord Nash]

I agree entirely with the noble Lord and that is why we are enacting these proposals.