School Attendance (Duties of Local Authorities and Proprietors of Schools) Bill
Luke Hall ExcerptsFriday 17th May 2024
(7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate School Attendance (Duties of Local Authorities and Proprietors of Schools) Bill 2023-24 View all School Attendance (Duties of Local Authorities and Proprietors of Schools) Bill 2023-24 Debates Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
It is a pleasure to respond to the debate and outline the Government’s view about the importance of delivering this provision. I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) for her work on the Bill, and congratulate her on the manner in which she has managed to take it through the House and gather so much cross-party support. This is clearly a subject of huge importance to her. She talked passionately about the impact that the Bill will have in her constituency and across the country, and about how her experiences as a mother helped to shape her view about the importance of getting this issue right. I assure her that it is equally as important to me and to the Government more widely.
All evidence points to school as the best place for children’s attainment, wellbeing and development. This important Bill can play a crucial role in ensuring that all children attend regularly, and I am delighted to lend the Government’s support to it today. It has been clear through the passage of the Bill, as my right hon. Friend and the Schools Minister explained, that there has been significant cross-party support and co-operation at every stage. We thank hon. Members for that, including those on the Opposition Front Bench; it speaks volumes about the way that my right hon. Friend has managed to steer this important Bill through the House. Throughout its passage, Members have taken time to contribute and share experiences and views about how important this issue is, and we heard strong examples of the work that schools and local authorities are doing to improve attendance. We must ensure that that work continues and expands across the country.
The Government support the Bill, because we want to give parents clarity and to level up standards across all parts of England—across all 24,000 schools and 153 local authorities, and their 9 million pupils. Thanks to the incredible work of those schools and councils, we are starting to see signs of improvement. Last academic year, 440,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent or not attending than in the previous year, and 375,000 more children were in school almost every day—95% of possible sessions—compared with the year before. That second figure was based on improvements across the country across all phases, including key vulnerable cohorts such as children with special educational needs or those in receipt of free school meals.
Prior to the pandemic, we gradually reduced persistent absence from 17.4% in the school year that ended in 2010, to about 10% or 11% in the second half of the decade, up until the point at which covid struck. We are determined to get back there as quickly as we can, but there is further to go and the Bill will play an important part in that. There are still areas of the country where families cannot access the support they need, but by placing requirements in primary legislation for local authorities to exercise their functions with a view to promoting attendance, for schools to publicise an attendance policy, and for both to have regard to Department for Education guidance in doing so, we are taking another key step forward in ensuring consistency.
My right hon. Friend has been working closely with the Schools Minister, and he detailed on Second Reading and in Committee the comprehensive strategy that we have in place to support schools and councils to meet their expectations, whether that is through attendance hubs, attendance advisers, or the use of improving and groundbreaking data. I will not go over all that again, but we will continue to ensure that all that support still applies and is available to schools and councils.
My right hon. Friend raised an important point about holidays and staggering term time, and I completely agree with a number of the points she made. Of course, we absolutely sympathise with families who want to avoid more expensive periods, but we are clear that pupils should not miss school for term-time holidays, which cause unnecessary disruption to learning and make it harder for teachers to plan lessons and cover the curriculum. Obviously, those school holidays are not determined at national level: they are set by local schools and, depending on the type of school, by local authorities too. In our view, those institutions are best placed to make those decisions, but I know they will take into account some of the points that my right hon. Friend raised during her remarks, which I thought were very well made.
Some points were also raised by the Opposition Front-Bench spokesperson, the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra). As I have tried to emphasise in my remarks, we are committed to tackling this issue through a cross-cutting attendance strategy, alongside wider covid-recovery efforts. Our programmes are aimed at supporting the most vulnerable children, whether that is by investing billions of pounds to expand and transform NHS mental health services or by investing £40 million in our national school breakfast programme, which provides free breakfasts to children in schools in disadvantaged areas. We are also providing wide and comprehensive support for schools—whether through the local government finance settlement, the additional £200 million Supporting Families programme, or £2.6 billion until 2025 through the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan—and are providing £200 million for the holiday activities and food programme, too.
This is a hugely important Bill, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford has done a huge service to pupils up and down the country, including those in her constituency, by bringing it forward. Being in school has never been more valuable than it is now, with standards continuing to rise through the hard work of teachers. My right hon. Friend referred to the rocketing of schools’ performance: 90% are now good or outstanding, up from 68% under the last Labour Government. We have the fourth best primary school readers in the world, and our secondary school children have risen from 27th to 11th in maths—that is a transformation in standards and achievement—and from 25th to 13th in reading.
Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)
I am very struck by the comments that the Minister is making about the improvement in schools. Will he congratulate the schools in Staffordshire Moorlands, where since 2010, we have gone from fewer than 70% of schools being good or outstanding to nearly 90% now?
Luke Hall
My right hon. Friend’s intervention demonstrates the on-the-ground importance of the improvements in standards that we have seen over recent years. I have no doubt that that is down to the tremendous hard work of teachers, the local authority, parents and students, and I know that my right hon. Friend has been a strong champion of improving school performance. Of course, it is not just in Staffordshire; all around the country we are seeing that drive for standards and rocketing international comparisons. I thank her for raising that point; she was absolutely right to do so.
Crucially, this Bill will help to make sure that every young person and their family, whatever their background and wherever they are in the country, receives the support they need to be in school, to make sure they are attending, and to benefit from the transformation in educational standards that we have seen over the past few years.
I sincerely thank all right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions today; my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Anna Firth) spoke passionately about the importance of delivering this Bill, and I thank her for her contribution. I know that this issue is important to her, and one that she has raised many times with Ministers and with my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford. I thought my hon. Friend spoke very eloquently about the importance of delivering this Bill and its value to her constituents.
Finally, I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford on bringing forward this important Bill, which the Government are delighted to support. I commend it to the House.
Post-16 Qualifications Reforms
Luke Hall Excerpts(7 months, 1 week ago)
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The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
Today we are publishing the list of new alternative academic qualifications (AAQs) and new technical qualifications (TQs) that will be publicly funded at level 3 from 1 August 2025. This follows the first cycle of our post-16 qualifications reform at level 3. We have approved 74 new qualifications for public funding in construction and the built environment, digital, education and early years, engineering and manufacturing and health and science. In assessing these qualifications, we looked at evidence from employers, higher education institutions and colleges about the value these qualifications would bring to young people, adults and our economy. Technical qualifications have also been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) against the level 3 occupational standards.
The aim of the post-16 qualifications reform at level 3 and below is to streamline the qualifications landscape, simplify choices for students, and only fund qualifications that are high quality and lead to good progression outcomes. By ensuring that approved qualifications meet new, more rigorous criteria for public funding, young people can be confident that they will be able to progress to university and higher technical education, and directly into apprenticeships and skilled employment. In future, students will be able to study technical qualifications based on occupational standards that have been codesigned with employers, enabling young people to develop skills needed for the future. New alternative academic qualifications must demonstrate clear progression to related higher education and will be approved in a range of subjects in areas where there are not A-levels.
Our reforms place world-class A-levels and T-levels at the heart of level 3 study programmes for 16 to 19-year-olds, paving the way for the introduction of the advanced British standard. We know that students who take A-levels have better outcomes overall in terms of progressing into, and staying in, higher education (HE) than those who study applied general qualifications (AGQs). A 2022 Nuffield Foundation report found that students who enter higher education with BTECs are almost twice as likely to drop out before their second year when compared to A-level students, even after controlling for differences in background characteristics.
T-levels will also ensure that young people can feel confident that they are studying technical qualifications which will prepare them for jobs in their chosen field. T-levels equip students with a thorough understanding of their chosen sector and the skills needed to work in specific occupations, with the 45-day industry placement providing valuable workplace experience.
Last summer’s T-level results show students are succeeding in these new, high-quality qualifications. Over 90% of T-level students passed their T-level in summer 2023, with over two thirds of the cohort achieving a merit or above. Students have gone on from T-levels to outstanding destinations, including moving directly into employment, undertaking higher apprenticeships, or progressing into higher education. Almost a third of the first cohort of T-level students who completed their course and progressed into employment and apprenticeships, were employed by their industry placement organisation —proving the worth of T-levels to both students and employers. Over 30,000 students have started a T-level since 2020, including over 16,000 students who started a T-level course in September 2023 - almost as many students as in the first three cohorts combined, and an increase of almost 60% from September 2022.
We are pleased to see this growth and remain confident that numbers will continue to grow as more providers deliver T-levels. There are now 18 subjects available at over 250 providers across England, with a further three being rolled out this September. The latest T-level action plan sets out how we will continue to improve access to T-levels, ensure quality delivery, and support providers and employers as we move into the fourth year of delivery.
Alongside approving new qualifications for public funding at level 3, we have also published a list of 318 qualifications which will have public funding removed on 31 July 2025 due to being in the cycle 1 routes listed above and which have not been reformed. Where awarding organisations told my Department that existing qualifications would be replaced with newly reformed alternative academic or technical qualifications, these qualifications do not appear on this list. They will also have a public funding end date of 31 July 2025. This will be reflected in DfE’s database of qualifications approved for public funding on gov.uk.
The qualification reforms also include reforming level 2 qualifications to ensure they are high quality, have a clear purpose, and lead to better outcomes. Reformed level 2 qualifications will either support progression to reformed L3 study, for example via the T-level foundation year, or enable students to move directly into skilled employment in occupations at level 2, or via apprenticeships. The Government are also investing around an additional £300 million over two years to support those who need to retake their English and Maths. I will update the House on the outcomes of cycle 1 of the qualification reforms at level 2 in July, following a similar approvals and review exercise at that level for technical qualifications in construction and the built environment, education and early years, engineering and manufacturing and health and science routes.
This latest update builds on the work we have already done to streamline the qualifications landscape, including removing funding from 5,500 qualifications with low and no enrolments and the removal of funding from technical qualifications that overlap with T-levels from 31 July 2024 in construction and the built environment, digital, education and childcare, and health and science. It will ensure that learners studying level 3 qualifications can be confident that their studies are equipping them to progress into higher education and employment in the future.
The range of qualifications that will be available at level 3 for public funding from 2025 will shortly be updated on the DfE database’ of qualifications approved for public funding on gov.uk, to reflect these changes. It will be updated again in July, following the opportunity for awarding organisations to request a procedural review.
Copies of the associated documents have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Oral Answers to Questions
Luke Hall Excerpts(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
The proportion of apprentices who achieve their apprenticeship standard rose to 54.3% in 2022-23, which is up 2.9 percentage points on the year before. We are taking action to ensure that every apprentice has a high-quality experience. We are reviewing and improving standards where there are poor achievement rates; we are investing £7.5 million in the provider workforce development programme; and Ofsted will be inspecting all providers by 2025.
Ms Rimmer
Giving all young people a good education is key to levelling up our country, yet the number of apprenticeship starts has fallen by a third over the last decade and there are 3% fewer completions than three years ago. We have improved on last year, but we are not there yet. Why have the Government let the number of offered and available apprenticeships slide, and why does the Minister think that young people are not qualifying at the rate they were three years ago?
Luke Hall
We want all young people to have access to good, high-quality apprenticeships because they offer a valuable experience and an opportunity to upskill at the start of their career. We have seen a 4% increase in apprenticeship starts by young people under the age of 19 so far this year, and 57% of all starts have been by those aged under 25. Last year, we saw a 21% increase in apprenticeship achievements in the hon. Lady’s constituency. That is welcome news but, of course, there is always more to do. I am very happy to work with her on the issue.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
Is it not the case that apprenticeship achievements have gone up by 22% over the past year, that over 90% of apprentices who complete their apprenticeship get good jobs or good skills, and that starts are going up, too? Is it not also the case that we now have more than 690 quality apprenticeship standards in everything from aeronautics to zoology, and that any attempt to dilute the apprenticeship levy would not only destroy the number of starts but harm achievement? It is this side of the House that is building an apprenticeship and skills nation.
Luke Hall
During his time as a Minister, my right hon. Friend helped to completely rebuild the apprenticeship system, introducing higher-quality standards. Apprenticeships are now longer, better and have more off-the-job training, with proper independent assessment at the end. They are more valued by employers and we have seen 5.8 million starts since 2010. He is an incredible advocate for further education. Following him in this role, I learnt very quickly that I had big shoes to fill. I look forward to working with him to ensure that we continue delivering in this area.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
The truth is that not only have apprenticeship starts plummeted since 2017, but new data shows that the overall achievement rate has dropped since 2020, with level 2 apprenticeships hit hardest. Almost half of apprentices do not complete their courses, which is simply not good enough. Employers are calling out for reform, but this Government have their head in the sand. Is this not yet more evidence that, far from tackling barriers to opportunity and boosting Britain’s skills, the Government are failing our young people and our businesses, and that only Labour has a plan to turn this around?
Luke Hall
We have made apprenticeships more rigorous. They are now more credible. They are designed by employers and have proper robust assessments. The only plan Labour has, without more funding, is to cut the number of apprenticeship starts in our country by 60%. Obviously, the hon. Member missed the figures published last week, which showed a 2.5% increase in level 2 attainment rates. We are delivering high-quality standards with more off-the-job training and that should be welcomed across the House.
Tom Hunt (Ipswich) (Con)
Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
We have seen year-on-year growth in degree-level apprenticeships. Starts at levels 6 and 7 increased by 5.8% this year. There are now more than 170 employer-designed degree-level apprenticeships, and we are providing an additional £40 million over two years to support providers to expand their offers.
Chris Clarkson
Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting Members of this House and representatives of industry and of the education sector to discuss how we could leverage the resources of the private sector to support further education through a lecturer reservist programme. I particularly thank the Minister and his predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), as well as Hayley Pells of the Institute of the Motor Industry, for all their hard work in making that meeting a reality and for their positive engagement. I would not be doing my job properly if I was not cheeky enough to ask whether the Minister would be willing to join us for our next meeting, when we will flesh out the proposals that we discussed.
Luke Hall
I thought we had an excellent meeting last week. We had really positive discussions about the exciting lecturer reservist pilot that will run in the west midlands, bringing together regional employers, colleges and providers. I look forward to working closely with my hon. Friend as the pilot progresses, and not just to meeting him again but to visiting the pilot when it is up and running.
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab)
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
Our reforms make the student loan system more sustainable and fairer for graduates and taxpayers. Tuition fees have been frozen until 2024-25, and it was this Government who acted to cap the interest rate on student loans, because we believe that everybody in our country should have access to world-class higher education.
Yasmin Qureshi
In January, the number of applications to study nursing fell by 7.4%. The Royal College of Nursing said that that could be a direct threat to patient safety. Surely the Government should be doing everything they can to boost recruitment in nursing, but instead last September they introduced a tuition fee system that means that future nursing graduates will pay an extra £48 per month. Why is the Secretary of State penalising people who choose to work in our vital public services?
Luke Hall
The system that we introduced is a progressive one, because lifetime earnings now correlate with the amount that somebody contributes. The highest earners make the largest individual contributions, and the lowest earners contribute the least. For example, someone who leaves university in 2026 earning £26,000 a year will now pay just £7 a month repaying that loan. Crucially, the new interest rate is reduced from the retail prices index plus 3% to RPI plus 0%, which makes it more affordable too. It is a progressive system that we think is fairer for students and taxpayers.
Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister to his place; it is good to see him in his new role. Of course, we miss the former Minister, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon). As my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) put it so eloquently, we are in real danger of dissuading and disenfranchising so many young people from getting into the sorts of careers in which they are interested, and particularly into roles such as nursing. I reiterate that point, because we have seen a 7.3% decline in the numbers of applications for nursing. At a time when we desperately need more in our health service, what is the Minister doing? Does he really think this system, which was introduced ahead of his joining the education team, is a fair one?
Luke Hall
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words welcoming me to my post. The point I would make is that the 2023 cycle shows numbers rebalancing and returning to a trend of normal growth in applications following the pandemic. He should also look at the big impact nursing apprenticeships and nursing degree apprenticeships are having on the system. I am always happy to meet him to discuss these issues, but we do think it is a fairer and more affordable system for both students and taxpayers, and will result in more people being able to access a world-class higher education in our country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) (Con)
Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)
The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and for all of his work on this area. I know that he has been integral to the “I am a Housebuilder” campaign to encourage more women into the building sector. Our apprenticeship diversity champions network is supporting gender representation among employers, and it is good news that STEM starts continue to increase year on year—up 7.5% in the last year—but there is more to do, and I look forward to working closely with him on the issue.
Neale Hanvey (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) (Alba)
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
Research by London Economics and the Association of Colleges highlights that in recent years there has been a significant drop in level 2 apprenticeship starts. Will my hon. Friend the Minister outline the specific work being carried out to reverse this decline in an area that is so vital in promoting social mobility and levelling up?
Luke Hall
At levels 2 and 3, apprenticeships make up 65% of all starts so far this year and there are almost 140 apprenticeships at level 2. We published data last week to show that level 2 apprenticeships rose by 2.5% in terms of attainment. We will do everything we can to make sure people have access to high-quality apprenticeships, and we have also invested £50 million over two years to boost starts in growth sectors including engineering and manufacturing. I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend.
Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)
Luke Hall
We are trying to deliver a system that is fair not just to students, but to taxpayers, too. That is why we are taking action to support students with the cost of living in England, including freezing tuition fees. We have increased loans by 2.8%, and we have made sure that if someone’s family income falls by 15%, they can have their loans reassessed. It is also important that we support people from lower income households, which is why we have made a further £10 million available, including for hardship funding, in 2023-24. This system is fair not just to students, but to taxpayers more widely.
Dr Caroline Johnson (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
The Sir Robert Pattinson Academy in my constituency is a great school providing an excellent education to children. However, it is struggling with the challenges of aged infrastructure, and an urgent bid for it to rectify the heating and wiring challenges has been refused. An urgent meeting on Friday with officials was unproductive, not least because the data they were looking at was out of date. Can I ask the Secretary of State to please ensure that the senior leadership team gets an urgent meeting with senior officials and that she personally ensures that this bid is looked at properly and quickly?
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
Businesses—those in manufacturing in particular—speak about the challenge in filling vacancies. The solution can often be in the existing workforce, but older workers can be reluctant to take up apprenticeships. What work are we doing to encourage more older workers into the apprenticeship system?
Luke Hall
Working with employers is central to success on that point. That is why we are delivering the local skills improvement plans to ensure that we are matching the needs of businesses and employers with the workforce they need. We are working with over 5,000 employers, with over 700 different occupations, including on skills bootcamps, which bring different demographics to the workforce, to ensure that we have intensive training where industries have those skills needs. Engagement with businesses is at the forefront of our mind on that point.
Richard Foord (Tiverton and Honiton) (LD)
This weekend, The Times reported that some Conservative MPs want to see graduate visas banned. Will the Minister ask the Home Secretary to quash that damaging rumour, given that international students provide the UK with a £42 billion boost?
Luke Hall
We are home to some of the world’s top universities, which benefit from strong international ties. We think it is right to try to prevent any potential abuse and to protect the integrity of our higher education system, but it is true that international students make significant economic and cultural contributions to our education. We believe it is possible to balance a fair and robust migration policy with maintaining our place as a top destination for students from around the world.
James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)
I thank the Education Secretary for all the support that her Department is giving to Bracknell Forest, particularly the £16 million safety valve programme and other SEN initiatives. Given the high number of good and outstanding schools in Bracknell and the focus on apprenticeships and T-levels at Bracknell and Wokingham College, might I tempt her please to visit?
Post-16 Education: Isles of Scilly
Luke Hall Excerpts(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Derek Thomas) on securing this debate on the extremely important subject of education on the Isles of Scilly. While they are a beautiful place, I appreciate the argument he made that residents face a number of different issues and challenges because of the size, location and population of the isles. He is a passionate advocate for them in this House.
My hon. Friend clearly and eloquently set out one such challenge: there is no post-16 education for young people on the isles. The people of the isles are extremely fortunate to have him batting for them in the House today and making that case so strongly. From what he has described, many parents face difficult decisions about the next steps in their children’s education. Young people have to face the difficult situation of going to the mainland for education and training opportunities. As he said, that involves travel and living away from home at a relatively young age, which must be extremely daunting and creates a number of challenges. He set out eloquently and with force the emotional and wellbeing issues that young people on the isles face. That set of issues is no doubt difficult for parents and young people, and, after listening to my hon. Friend’s strong arguments, I sympathise with them.
All young people in the isles, in common with those across England, have to continue in education and training until they are 18. Young people can choose to participate in full-time education, have a job or volunteer combined with part-time study, or can undertake work-based training, such as an apprenticeship. The Government provide funding for a range of education and training opportunities for young people. Continuing in education and training means that young people are given the opportunity to develop skills and qualifications that open doors for them to future employment, helping them to make the most of their potential and to earn more over the course of their lifetime.
Empowering young people to gain the skills they need to climb that ladder of opportunity into successful careers or further study is a top priority for us at the Department for Education, and across wider Government. It is to the immense credit of all the residents on the Isles of Scilly that they are determined to overcome all the unique and challenging barriers they face so that their children can continue into post-16 education and training. At that point, they have many more diverse challenges than those on the mainland, including challenges accessing the benefits and opportunities that people on the mainland often enjoy.
To support our commitment to ensure young people across England—wherever they live—get high-quality educational opportunities, we are boosting 16-to-19 funding by an extra £1.6 billion in 2024-25, compared to the financial year 2021-22. We made a further investment of £185 million in 2023-24 and £285 million in 2024-25. Overall, in the academic year 2023-24, nearly £7 billion was allocated to institutions in programme funding for 16-19 education to help ensure that every young person has access to an excellent education. Young learners in Cornwall, including learners from the isles, will benefit from that extra funding through receiving a high-quality teaching and learning experience in high-quality facilities.
The Department provides a range of financial support for students who need it, including those from the Isles of Scilly, to enable them to participate in post-16 education. That includes free meals and bursaries to help with the cost of education, whether that is travel, books, equipment or trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required. Students can speak to their education institution about accessing those funds. We of course recognise, as was powerfully articulated just now, the unique situation of young people from the Isles of Scilly and understand that the normal provision of funding in 16-to-19 education does not fully fit with their circumstances on the isles. In addition to receiving full funding for their learning, like other young learners across the country, for many years we have provided extra funds to help them meet the cost of travel to and from the mainland, and for accommodation on the mainland where they are staying.
In the current year, as my hon. Friend has said, the per student funding was increased by more than 11%—that is now £6,365. The number of students has grown, which means that we have increased the total quantum of funding by more than 40% this year compared with last year, but my hon. Friend has made a powerful case that families on the island believe that the current level of support—£6,365 per student—is not sufficient and should be increased. As I said, the figure has increased by 11% from last year, but I do understand the point my hon. Friend makes about the challenges that families face with increasing costs, and particularly with the reduced availability of host family accommodation; they feel that this funding does not cover the total cost of support for their children to travel for their post-16 education.
I know my hon. Friend and his constituents feel extremely strongly about the issue, so we will consider carefully any request from the council to provide additional funding for the scheme as part of the spending review. My hon. Friend has made that case eloquently and, as the Minister responsible, I will be watching the matter closely. I am very happy to meet him—and perhaps his council—to talk about the proposals in more detail at the appropriate time, because I understand the point he has made, and the pressures and challenges faced by families in his community.
My hon. Friend also raised the issue of student wellbeing. He spoke powerfully about the health and wellbeing of young people who are under 18 and living away from home, and about the impact on them. I appreciate that students from the Isles of Scilly and their parents need to make difficult choices about where they live when they study. We heard that some families decide to place young people with host families on the mainland, while some opt to take more expensive options such as state boarding schools; I agree with my hon. Friend that that is not a situation that lots of parents want to see their family in, and I understand the concerns he has raised. As a parent myself, I felt it very keenly when he made that argument.
I know that the council publishes a model accommodation agreement for students and their parents to ensure that the accommodation options are safe, including making sure that any adults within a host family that a child is placed with undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The colleges also provide general support for their students’ wellbeing, including help with stress and anxiety, and advice and support on study and careers. As we know, this situation is a unique one. It is important that students and families feel that the accommodation and travel arrangements are safe and secure, and help them to succeed in their post-16 education. That is why we keep the scheme arrangements under review. My officials are in regular contact with the local council about how it is working, but my hon. Friend has made his points powerfully and well, and I am very happy to discuss the matter further.
My hon. Friend also talked about post-16 education and training opportunities. He was right to raise that point. The council estimates—I think he quoted this number in his speech—that there are around 48 students aged 16 to 19 who will take part in education or training this year. Of course, a cohort of that size makes it difficult at this stage to deliver face-to-face post-16 education on the isles themselves, because of all the logistical challenges that it would create. To undertake face-to-face education, young learners have to travel to the mainland. There are a number of sixth-form colleges, sixth forms and other options—I think he referenced a couple in his speech—but the most popular are Truro and Penwith College and Cornwall College, which between them provide a range of post-16 provision. Those providers offer a wide variety of options, with the colleges working increasingly well together to avoid duplication of the offer to students from the Isles of Scilly, and to ensure that the widest variety of high-quality options are available to learners in the area, including those from the isles.
It is of course not ideal that learners from the isles have to travel so far and live away from home, despite the support that is available, and all the help with costs that the colleges provide. My hon. Friend spoke passionately about that, and about the collective challenges. This is not just a challenge about post-16 education; there are lots of different elements of life for people on the isles, and this is just one challenge they face. That point was made very well. I assure my hon. Friend that we are open to considering other approaches, if parents and education institutes have workable alternatives—for example, if some courses could be accessed via distance rather than face-to-face learning. I am very happy to have that conversation.
My hon. Friend has made a strong case. I know that he has raised the issue before, and that he is a strong advocate for reform and doing more in this area. I thank him for bringing this debate to the Floor of the House. He made some important points about post-16 education for young people on the Isles of Scilly, and the difficulties that both they and their families face with the provision of this type of education and access to these opportunities. It is clear that students from the isles are in quite a unique situation in this regard—and no doubt a range of others. I appreciate the challenges they face. We will keep the scheme arrangements under review. My officials and I are in regular contact with the council on the isles and will listen to any other suggestions or alternatives that the council or my hon. Friend wish to talk through.
I pay tribute once more to the people of the Isles of Scilly. It is a huge credit to them that they are determined to overcome all the logistical challenges they face in trying to access post-16 education and training like many other people across the country. Through my hon. Friend’s tireless campaigning, he is ensuring that the issues are being heard at the top of Government, and I very much thank him for it.
Question put and agreed to.
Digital Skills and Careers
Luke Hall Excerpts(8 months, 1 week ago)
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The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Luke Hall)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Caroline. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron) on securing a debate on this vital subject.
We live in a digital age. Digital skills are essential to support a successful economy and to ensure that people of all ages have the skills they need for their chosen careers. In the UK, we have a world-leading digital economy. To enhance that position, we need to ensure that people can develop digital skills throughout their lifetime—a point that has been made throughout the debate. Such skills will benefit individuals and employers.
Now is the time for us to act and to deliver our ambitions by investing in digital education and skills and building a diverse pipeline of future talent. If my hon. Friend is happy for me to do so, I will set out some of the work that the Government have been doing and the context for it, and then I will pick up on some of the points that she and other colleagues have raised during the debate.
We need that pipeline of talent because, quite simply, digital skills are needed in nearly all careers in our country these days. There are more and more digital jobs and careers in which the digital element of skills is absolutely central to the role.
We know—I think every Member raised this point in the debate—that there is a digital skills gap to address. As the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), said, that gap has been estimated to cost the UK economy £63 billion a year. That was a key theme of today’s debate, and it is one that the Government do not take lightly.
Digital jobs grew by 9% last year and are projected to continue to grow by 9% to 2030 and to a significantly higher level thereafter. Sixty per cent of all businesses believe their reliance on advanced digital skills will increase over the next five years, and analysis that the DFE will publish imminently highlights the importance of digital skills across sectors. Of those that are most relevant to critical technologies, the four with the highest levels of employment all relate to digital and computing. That analysis shows how reliant we are on computer science graduates to fill relatively entry-level occupations. We need to ensure that employers and learners are aware of the high-quality technical routes that are available to gain those vital digital skills.
At a local level, digital was one of the top five sectors in which skills needs were identified across the local skills improvement plans. That is a key part of the work that we are doing to engage with businesses and local authorities, bringing together the sector to ensure that we are delivering the right sorts of jobs and entries into the workplace.
It is clear that we have to address the issue in our economy, and we are taking action to do so. One of our beliefs is that the digital skills journey for so many people starts in our schools. To address the growing demand for people with computing and digital skills, we introduced computing as a statutory national curriculum subject back in 2014 across key stages 1 to 4. To provide a basis for further study and careers in digital—including in AI, as was raised by my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow—the computing curriculum ensures that pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work in the modern era, and how to put that knowledge to use through programming.
To ensure that pupils receive a high-quality computing education, we invested over £100 million in the National Centre for Computing Education, providing primary and secondary teachers with the support that they need to drive up participation in computer science at GCSE and A-level. Over 13,000 teachers have engaged with subject knowledge courses, boosting their confidence to teach engaging and effective lessons in this area. Crucially, in post-16 education, the computer science A-level further develops students’ understanding and application of the principles and concepts of computer science, whether that is abstraction, decomposition, logic, algorithms or data representation.
Digital T-levels are also supporting progression to occupations such as software development technician. I went on an incredible visit a couple of weeks ago to Bridgwater and Taunton College, where I met some digital T-level students who were hugely passionate about the work that they were doing. The college has a really positive partnership with different digital technological providers, including Apple, to ensure that students not only have good work and engagement placements, but have the technology that they need as their opportunities on those courses develop. It is not just occupations in the digital sector where good digital skills are needed; relevant digital skills are built into every T-level qualification.
Points were quite rightly raised during the debate about the workforce. One of the steps we have taken to boost teacher retention is investing £100 million a year—this year and in the next financial year—to ensure that every early career teacher of STEM and technical subjects, including computing and digital courses, receives up to £6,000 annually on top of their pay. The investment is targeted at teachers in their first five years of teaching in disadvantaged schools and colleges, ensuring that we help to tackle some of the hotspots with particular challenges. We already offer those levelling-up premium payments to computing teachers in their first five years, but the expansion will double the payments and extend the scheme to eligible further education teachers.
We are also funding flexible skills bootcamps at level 3 and free courses for jobs, which include a range of in-demand digital qualifications and provision such as network architecture, data analytics and coding. I met representatives of the Institute of Coding last week at the University of Bath, one of our digital skills bootcamp providers. I will return to diversity in the sector more generally in a moment, but one of the incredible statistics was that more than 44% of starts in the digital skills bootcamp now are from women. There is a huge amount more to do, but that shows that having different avenues into the workforce and different types of training interventions can have a massive impact and be one part of tackling the issue.
At levels 4 and 5, the first higher technical qualifications were in digital occupations, and 56 HTQs are available for teaching, with a further 10 approved for first teaching in September. Employers in the digital sector have developed 32 high quality apprenticeships from level 3 to degree level in exciting fields, including cyber-security, software development and AI. In 2020, we introduced a digital entitlement, funding adults with low digital skills to study essential digital skills qualifications and digital functional skills qualifications, developed against new employer-supported national standards, which provided learners with the essential skills they need to participate properly and actively in the workforce.
We have also introduced institutes of technology, which are employer-led collaborations—another theme that has been raised several times in this debate. They are bringing together the best existing FE provision with HE partners to build a high-skilled workforce to respond to the needs of the employer, which is crucial. Of the 21 IOTs, 19 have been launched already, and they all include a digital specialism.
Higher education is a key pipeline for digital jobs—a point that was well made by my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow. Through the strategic priorities grant, we are directing funding towards strategically important subjects, including computing and IT courses. From 2025, the lifelong learning entitlement will transform access to further and higher education so all adults have the equivalent of four years’ worth of student loans to use flexibly on a quality education and skills over their lifetime.
My hon. Friend and other hon. Members have shown strong interest in ensuring that we embrace the opportunities and advances that AI offers and that we make use of technologies such as blockchain, which is fundamental to the future of our digital economy in some ways. In schools, the computing curriculum as a foundational subject for all key stages ensures pupils have a broad knowledge of the skills they need to specialise in later, for example in AI, facilitating further study. At the other end of the pipeline, we have an AI data specialist apprenticeship standard approved for delivery at level 7. That highly skilled role champions AI and its applications, promoting the adoption of novel tools and technologies.
Margaret Greenwood
The Minister is putting an awful lot into his speech, which is good. Can he tell us what the Government are doing to look at which areas of digital jobs will be under threat with the development of AI? Today’s landscape will not be the same in five years’ time. What work has his Department been doing on that? Is it informing the courses that are being provided? We do not want people to invest a lot of time and money in training for something, only for AI to come and wipe it off the map.
Luke Hall
I thank the hon. Member for raising that issue. Let me make a couple of points. First, yes, we are absolutely looking at the matter as a Government Department. Secondly, we are working with external partners and providers too, whether that is through the LSIPs or other mechanisms, to forward-look at what skills are needed as part of our economic model, not just now but in the years to come. We are doing that in multiple ways; perhaps I can write to the hon. Member with more information. I can assure her that work is under way through LSIPs and in other ways.
The hon. Member for Feltham and Heston and my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow raised points about female participation in digital skills. I mentioned the importance of using digital skills bootcamps as a lever and a mechanism to tackle that issue, but we know that there is a lack of diversity, particularly gender diversity, within the digital skills pipeline. Only 15% of the UK’s programmers and software development professionals are female. That is why we are supporting programmes to widen participation in digital and wider science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers, including through the National Centre for Computing Education’s “I Belong” programme.
We are also putting £30 million into an AI and data science conversion course programme, funding universities to develop masters-level AI and data science courses suitable for non-STEM students. There are up to 2,600 scholarships for students from backgrounds under-represented in the tech industry. Of course there is more to do, and we look forward to working with my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow to tackle that challenge.
The hon. Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) spoke passionately about some of the challenges facing her own community, as well as some of the opportunities that digital advancements and AI can bring. I took particular note of a couple of her points. First, she was absolutely right to highlight that this area cuts across all Departments and all layers of government, including local government, the devolved Administrations and the Government here at Westminster; I can assure her that I will certainly tackle that issue wherever I can. She also highlighted her work with the APPG and the report she has produced on coalfield communities; I would love to meet her and talk more about the recommendation in that report. I look forward to reading it and will be happy to discuss it further.
The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), who is no longer in his place, made an intervention about the importance of ensuring that individuals with special educational needs have the right level of access to digital skills. That is a crucial point, and I want to assure all hon. Members that we are taking action in that area. We are ensuring that all colleges have a named person with oversight for SEND, that colleges have due regard to the SEND code of practice, that apprenticeships have diversity champions and that institutes of technology are looking at a diverse workforce. I am always happy to talk to colleagues about that important issue.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow again for securing this debate. There is a clear, unanimous voice on the importance of digital skills, ensuring that everybody in our country has equal and clear access to those skills, and future-proofing our workforce. I have set out our offer to ensure that the UK has the digital skills to remain a science and technology superpower. That is just the start. Every individual, business, employer and part of our economy needs digital skills. Of course there is more to do, but I am sure that by working together, including with providers and employers, we will deliver the digital skills that our country needs for the future.
Oral Answers to Questions
Luke Hall Excerpts(1 year, 6 months ago)
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Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)
Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Claire Coutinho)
I want every child and young person, regardless of their special educational need or disability, to receive the right support to enjoy their childhood and succeed in life. The SEND and AP improvement plan, published in March 2023, sets out the next steps that we are taking to deliver a more positive experience for children, young people and families.
Claire Coutinho
I thank all the special schools for the amazing work they do to support children and young people. We have announced more than £1.4 billion of high needs provisional capital allocations to support local authorities to deliver new places for academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25. Local authorities can use that funding to work with any school or institution in their area.
Luke Hall
Work has begun on the new Two Bridges Academy in South Gloucestershire, a new school that will support pupils who have severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism from the age of two right through to sixth form. Will the Minister join me in thanking the educational trust, the council and all the local groups who are helping to deliver this exciting and innovative project and will she use her office to make sure that it is open by the planned date of September 2024 to help us cope with the growing demand for special educational needs services in South Gloucestershire?
Claire Coutinho
I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in thanking all those involved in the project. The Two Bridges site remains on track to open as planned and work is progressing well. We are committed to working with the trust to ensure that that remains the case.