Apprenticeships: Ethnic Minorities

Debate between Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Baroness Wilcox

Monday 18th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

I am delighted to answer that question. Yes, I do know about Unionlearn, and I know that it is going well. The National Apprenticeship Service and the TUC are planning to carry out research into this issue. The apprenticeship unit has met with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the TUC to ensure that people from all ethnic backgrounds are able to access apprenticeships and are supported throughout those apprenticeships. I am only too delighted to be working with the TUC.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

Will my noble friend please tell the House how many apprentices have been recruited to her own department and how many of them, as a percentage, come from ethnic-minority backgrounds?

[Baroness Wilcox]

My noble friend has asked a very good question which he knows I cannot answer. I would love to have an apprentice or two. Unfortunately, we have cut down on our staff so much—

Public Expenditure: Investment in Science

Debate between Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Baroness Wilcox

Wednesday 22nd December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

My Lords, I declare an interest as the chair of the Association of Medical Research Charities. While, like many people, we welcomed the Minister’s very skilful settlement to the research councils on Monday, the reality is that there will be an 8 to 10 per cent cut in funding over the next four years. Will my noble friend confirm that there will be no cut in the full economic costs of research council grants to universities? Will she also confirm that the Charity Research Support Fund will be maintained fully, so that the £1 billion that research charities give to our universities for research will be maintained will full economic costs?

[Baroness Wilcox]

I will talk first about the Medical Research Council. I think there was a question in there about the budget. We have taken into account the fact that we expect the MRC to have additional commercial income from patent licensing et cetera, which will reduce the amount of headline budget increase. I understand the noble Lord’s worries. I think I can commit us to spending as it is now but no further.

Minimum Wage

Debate between Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Baroness Wilcox

Tuesday 30th November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

On the first question, I do not have any answer at the moment. I think that everything seems to be as it is. In the remit of the 2011 report, the Low Pay Commission was asked to review the labour market position of young people, including apprenticeships and internships. The commission will continue to do its work and report to the Government by the end of February next year, when I will return with that finding.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

Does my noble friend accept that a significant number of unpaid interns work in the Houses of Parliament and that we should be setting standards rather than exploiting these young people? Furthermore, many young people, particularly from the north of England and with limited income, cannot possibly come to intern here. Will the Minister discuss with her colleagues in DWP the possibility of making JSA available to interns coming to work in Parliament and other places in London so that there is at least a minimum recognition of the expenses that they have to fulfil?

[Baroness Wilcox]

We are unlikely to look at this. However, in BIS we pay interns a wage and things seem to be going very well.

Higher Education: Funding and Student Finance

Debate between Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Baroness Wilcox

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

I think the answer is no; I do not think that we have. I am sorry but I do not think that I can answer that at the moment.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

Will my honourable friend the Minister answer a very simple question? I am sorry, I should have said, “my noble friend”. I apologise for that; I am very new to this place. The Government have confirmed today that new providers will come into the higher education market. She also confirmed that universities will be able to expand their student numbers according to demand. However, she said nothing about whether there will be an overall cap on the number of students. Unless there is a balance between the overall number of students going into the system and the resources which the Government are to make available in terms of loans and grants, the whole system is likely to collapse. Will the Minister say something about the total number of students that the Government will allow to enter higher education?

[Baroness Wilcox]

I am told that we are going to consult on this in the White Paper. Browne recommends allowing student numbers to grow. The current package should enable student numbers to be broadly maintained. However, we do not believe that we should set unsustainable targets for growing HE student numbers. This risks perpetuating the idea that the only positive option for an 18 year-old is a three-year academic course at university. We think that we should be concentrating more on breaking down barriers between academic and vocational education so that an apprenticeship and various other courses are considered as valid as a degree. As I say, we will consult on this in the White Paper.

Higher Education: Funding

Debate between Lord Willis of Knaresborough and Baroness Wilcox

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox]

On the first question, the noble Baroness will have to ask the noble Lord, Lord Browne. He is here today and it is lovely that he is. On the second question, all three parties here assembled have had to rethink this problem over time. Certainly, the Benches facing me have changed their mind more than once.

[Lord Willis of Knaresborough]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, made an important point. A principle was established by the Labour Government in 1998; namely, that fees represented replacement funding. All the money which came in from the first round of fees was replacement funding. But the issue is fundamental. If our universities cannot get additional resources as a result of this increase, we will not remain competitive.

What assurance can the Minister give at this stage that additional resources will come into our universities for research and teaching over and above any loss of revenue as a result of the comprehensive spending review? On a very important point, we are to have real interest on repayment of loans after £21,000 is reached. If students repay those loans in their entirety and therefore escape having to pay any interest, have the Government and the noble Lord, Lord Browne, calculated the loss and therefore the additional revenue that would have to be taken out of the system to compensate?

[Baroness Wilcox]

My Lords, my noble friend comes from the other place, where I believe that he chaired the Commons committee on education. This man knows his questions. I cannot answer pretty well everything that he has asked me, sadly. There is nothing more that I can say at this stage. I realise that the comprehensive spending review is hampering us with everything today, so I offer my apologies for that.