Education

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from Third Reading of the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill on Wednesday 3 May.

[Robert Halfon]

The hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington spoke on Report about T-levels, and I am proud that the number of T-level students has gone up to 10,000. We have 16 T-level subjects in delivery, with a total of 18 from September. We are spending up to £500 million on T-levels, which have a 92% pass rate, with many students progressing to university, employment and apprenticeships, and we have invested £240 million to help providers prepare to deliver high-quality industry placements.

[Official Report, 3 May 2023, Vol. 732, c. 167.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon):

An error has been identified in my speech on Third Reading of the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill.

The information given should have been:

[Robert Halfon]

The hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington spoke on Report about T-levels, and I am proud that the number of T-level students has gone up by 10,000. We have 16 T-level subjects in delivery, with a total of 18 from September. We are spending up to £500 million on T-levels, which had a 92% pass rate in 2022, with many students progressing to university, employment and apprenticeships, and we have invested £240 million to help providers prepare to deliver high-quality industry placements.

Student Loan Interest Rate Caps

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 15th May 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education, Baroness Barran, has made the following statement:

The Government announced on 13 June 2022 that the student loan interest rate would be set at a maximum of 7.3% between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, in line with the forecast prevailing market rates. The Government confirmed that should the actual prevailing market rate turn out to be lower than forecast, a further cap would be implemented to reduce student loan interest rates accordingly.

Reflecting a lower than forecast prevailing market rate across the academic year 2023-24, the maximum interest rates for all plan 2 (undergraduate) and plan 3 (postgraduate) loans have been:

6.3% between 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022;

6.5% between 1 December 2022 and 28 February 2023; and

6.9% between 1 March 2023 and 31 May 2023.

I am now announcing a further cap: from 1 June 2023 to 31 August 2023 the maximum interest rate will be 7.1% for all plan 2 and plan 3 loans, reflecting the most recent prevailing market rate. For the first time, this cap will also apply to plan 5 (undergraduate) loans, which become available from 1 August. The temporary cap is a reduction compared to the 7.3% maximum rate announced in June.

We will confirm student loan interest rates to apply from 1 September 2023 closer to the time.

[HCWS769]

School and College Funding: The Midlands

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 9th May 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

It is an honour to serve under you today, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate the hon. Member for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) on her impassioned speech, and I look forward to responding to her debate.

I will go through the details of what is going on, but it is important to talk not only about funding, but about how educational standards are improving. As of December last year, 88% of schools were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, which is up from 68% in 2010. In the west midlands, 86% of schools are now rated good or outstanding, up from 60% in 2010. I am delighted to report that in Coventry, 86% of schools are rated good or outstanding, up from 55% in 2010. The hon. Lady will know Hereward College, which is not in her constituency but is in the Coventry local authority area and is rated good.

I was surprised that the hon. Lady did not mention that Coventry was an education investment area. She talked about encouraging more teachers, and 36 secondary schools in Coventry benefit from the levelling-up premium, which is available in maths, physics, chemistry and computing to teachers in the first five years of their career. Payments are worth up to £3,000 tax-free each year from academic year 2022-23 right up to 2025. Connect the Classroom has 17 schools upgrading their wi-fi access, and the trust capacity fund is helping trusts to develop their capacity to grow. Furthermore, the Thrive Education Partnership was awarded funding of more than £290,000 for Corley Academy.

The hon. Lady also mentioned Coventry College. Sadly, as she knows, it received an inadequate grade for apprenticeships, which is why it is no longer offering that provision. Apprentices accounted for 4% of its overall provision, and learners have been transferred to other local colleges and providers. I should, however, congratulate the principal and CEO, Carol Thomas, who has overseen the improvement of finances at her college from an inadequate health grade in July 2020 to a good health grade in July 2022. The college was also nominated by Barclays bank for a financial turnaround award, which is important news.

I will respond to the hon. Member for Coventry South further, but I just want to respond to some of the other hon. Members who spoke. My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Theo Clarke) made an impassioned speech. She is a champion for schools and education in her constituency—she is well known for it across the House. She mentioned the £28 million for Stafford College that she personally lobbied for. The Secretary of State recently visited the new site following her invitation, which is a credit to what she has achieved for her constituency. My hon. Friend will also know about the additional capital funding for schools in her constituency of over £800,000.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis) made an impassioned speech. I absolutely agree with him that free school meals need to go to those who most need them. The hon. Member for Coventry South mentioned free school meals, and I understand her campaign, but we are spending over £1.6 billion on free school meals, and 1.9 million pupils, or 22.5%, are claiming them, which is more than in 2021. We introduced free school meals under the universal infant free school meals policy. That happened under a Conservative Government. When I was a Back Bencher in the last Parliament, I personally campaigned for free school meals for disadvantaged FE college pupils, which we introduced as a Conservative coalition Government. It is also important to mention the multimillion-pound package for breakfast clubs, especially in disadvantaged areas. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North is right about workload—I am absolutely convinced that my colleague the Minister for Schools will be getting a printer in his office to print out all the examples of bureaucracy that he talked about. I congratulate him on his speech.

My hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley) knows that he and I agree—I think there is a card separating us—about skills and FE. He knows that I am an honorary professor of Nottingham Trent University, and I am particularly impressed with its brilliant work with Mansfield College. He talked about West Notts College, which has also done impressive work in offering T-levels in business, construction, digital education, engineering and manufacturing. He made some wise points about schools and skills, and I thank him for his speech.

To return to the hon. Member for Coventry South, she will know that in the autumn statement we announced £2 billion of additional investment for schools in 2023-24 and 2024-25, over and above the increases already announced for schools at the 2021 review. That means that total funding across mainstream schools and high needs will be £3.5 billion higher in 2023-24 than in 2022-23, and that is on top of the £4 billion year-on-year increase provided in 2022-23. Together, that is an increase of £7.5 billion, or over 15%, in just two years, and school funding will increase further next year, so that by 2024-25, funding per pupil will be higher than ever in real terms. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has been quoted, but its independent analysis shows that total school funding is growing faster than costs for schools nationally this year and next.

[Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for giving way; I recognise that he speaks on this topic with a great deal of experience. I also particularly thank my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) for securing this important debate. In the midlands, four in five schools are set to have to cut their education provision to cover costs this coming year. In 2020 in Nottingham, secondary school teachers left schools at a rate of 33%, which was one of the highest in England. Does the Minister accept that the situation is completely unsustainable and is damaging children’s education? Will he look again at funding for schools and teachers’ pay?

[Robert Halfon]

I thank the hon. Lady, who has listened very carefully to the debate. I will be setting out the extra funding going into the midlands. She will know that schools in Nottingham East are attracting over £69.7 million through the schools national funding formula. On top of that, schools will see £2.3 million through the grant. Also, 90% of schools are rated good or outstanding, up from 77% in 2010. I should add that I was pleased to work with the hon. Lady as a Back Bencher on green skills in school, which I know she cares about deeply.

We are levelling up school funding and delivering resources where they are needed most. Nationally, per-pupil funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 5.6% in 2023-24 compared with last year, and the east midlands and west midlands are both attracting above-average increases of 5.7% per pupil. Alongside those increases to revenue funding, we are investing significantly in schools’ capital. We provide funding to support local authorities with their responsibility to provide enough school places in their area. We have announced £2 billion for the creation of places needed in the next four academic years. The east and west midlands regions are receiving over £500 million of that funding.

We are also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to support the delivery of new and improved high needs provision for children and young people with special educational needs. We have allocated over £15 billion since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for financial year 2023-24, to improve the condition of the school estate. As part of that investment, Coventry City Council has been provisionally allocated £3.5 million for financial year 2023-24 to invest across its maintained schools. We expect to publish final allocations shortly.

The school rebuilding programme is transforming buildings at 500 schools, prioritising those in poor condition and with potential safety issues. We have announced 400 schools to date, including Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School in Coventry South, which is one of 91 schools in the programme across the east and west midlands. We also allocated £500 million of additional capital funding for schools and FE colleges to help improve buildings and facilities and so to help them with energy costs. Schools in Coventry South were allocated over £900,000 of that funding.

On post-16 education, the further education capital transformation programme is delivering the Government’s £1.5 billion commitment to upgrade and transform the FE college estate. The hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) obviously knows that his college in Chesterfield has had £18 million, which I am sure he is delighted with. The FE reclassification and energy efficiency allocations have committed over £200 million in new capital funding to the sector. That has meant a £2 million capital investment in the FE college estate in Coventry, with Coventry College and Hereward College benefiting from that investment.

We also want to ensure that every young person has access to an excellent post-16 education. The 2021 spending review made available an extra £1.6 billion for 16-to-19 education in 2024-25 compared with 2021-22. That is the biggest increase in a decade, and we have made significant increases in funding rates. The national funding rate, which was £4,000 in 2019-20, will rise to £4,642 in academic year 2023-24. Over £1.3 billion has been allocated for 16-to-19 education in the midlands area for the current academic year, and £43 million of that has been allocated to institutions in Coventry.

The hon. Member for Coventry South rightly always champions social justice. In 2023-24, we have targeted a greater proportion of the schools national funding formula towards deprived pupils than ever before: 9.8%—over £4 billion—of the formula has been allocated according to deprivation. That means that over the coming year of 2023-24, schools with the highest level of deprivation have, on average, attracted the largest per-pupil funding increases. That is not even including the pupil premium funding, which has increased by 5% in 2023-24, a £180 million increase that takes total pupil premium funding to £2.9 billion. High needs funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities is rising to £10.1 billion nationally in this financial year, an increase of over 50% from the 2019-20 allocations. This year, Coventry is receiving an 11.5% per-head increase in its high needs funding compared with 2022-23.

[Nadia Whittome]

The Minister is being very generous with his time. On SEN funding, local authorities in England are facing a £2.4 billion black hole in special educational needs. I had the pleasure of visiting a SEN school recently, Rosehill School in my constituency, which had the same story to tell. What will the Minister do to improve that situation?

[Robert Halfon]

As the hon. Lady knows, we are spending many millions more on special educational needs funding. She will have heard the statement by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho); that will help significantly in dealing with special educational needs.

In 16-to-19 funding, we include factors in the funding formula to help institutions recruit, retain and support disadvantaged students. That includes an uplift for those from disadvantaged localities and those with low prior attainment. The 16-to-19 bursary fund targets financial support at disadvantaged young people. In the academic year 2022-23, £152 million in bursary funding was allocated to institutions. That includes £33 million for the east and west midlands, of which just under £1 million has been allocated to institutions in Coventry. The amount has been further increased for the academic year 2023-24, with a 10% rise in the rates per instance of travel, disadvantage and industry placements compared to the 2022-23 academic year, to help with rising costs.

We briefly discussed T-levels. We are currently working with the FE sector and others to roll out T-levels. There are 42 colleges, schools and independent training providers across the west midlands that are planning to deliver T-levels in the next academic year. Coventry College will offer T-levels in digital and education, and the WMG Academy for Young Engineers will offer T-levels in engineering and manufacturing. I also mention Mansfield College for my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield.

We have invested over £500,000 for providers in Coventry South to purchase industry-standard equipment for teaching T-levels. We have also funded nine T-level projects in the west midlands to help create state-of-the-art buildings and facilities. Overall, T-levels are backed by revenue funding of up to £500 million a year, and we have also announced a 10% uplift in T-level funding rates over the coming year to support providers as they scale up delivery.

We are backing institutes of technology, with over £300 million in capital funding going to 21 institutes across the country, including £9 million to the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology and £18 million on the Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology. We plan to spend £13 million on the East Midlands Institute of Technology.

We talked about apprenticeships. It is brilliant to see that there have been 9,000 apprenticeship starts in Coventry South since 2010, and over 1 million starts in the east and west midlands in that time. We want to support even more apprentices and employers to benefit from high-quality apprenticeships, which is why we are increasing funding for apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024-25.

We have also removed the limit on the number of apprenticeships that small and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses can take on, making it easier for them to grow their businesses with skilled apprentices. That will benefit the small businesses and apprentices in Coventry South. We continue to provide a £1,000 payment to employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and we are increasing the care leavers’ bursary from £1,000 to £3,000, so that they have the chance to do an apprenticeship.

I am enormously grateful for the opportunity to discuss these important issues. Despite the narrative set out by the hon. Member for Coventry South, we are investing huge sums of money in her constituency and across the midlands for school funding, which will be at its highest ever level by 2024-25. Funding for 16 to 19-year-olds will see the biggest increase for a decade, and we are investing in capital funding for schools and colleges. I have carefully highlighted the huge investment we are making in the hon. Member’s constituency and across the midlands so that we have high-quality places, and I believe that the investment we are putting into schools and skills will have a transformative effect for children and young people in the hon. Lady’s constituency, the midlands and across the country.

Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Matt Western]

I rise to speak to new clauses 1 and 2 and amendments 3 to 5, which appear in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins), who is unfortunately unable to be here today. Our amendments at their core seek to do three important things and are designed to ensure that the Bill is successful: to introduce parliamentary oversight; to provide the sector with as much clarity as possible ahead of the implementation of the lifelong loan entitlement; and to allow for an assessment of the interaction between the Bill and the policy underpinning the lifelong loan entitlement. They seek to achieve those aims at various key points in the Minister’s decision-making process, covering the period prior to laying the regulations, the process of laying the regulations and the post-enactment effect of the regulations. With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will speak to our amendments with that logical structure in mind.

New clause 2 would require the Minister to publish a revised impact assessment before laying any regulations under the Act. Such an impact assessment must consider the Government’s response to the lifelong loan entitlement, any subsequent spending reviews, and the Government’s broader education and skills policy. I note that the Minister has committed himself and the Government at various times to such an impact assessment. In the impact assessment attached to the Bill, a post-enactment impact assessment is promised. In Committee, the Minister also promised that

“the Government will publish a full and detailed impact assessment, including the qualification of expected costs and the benefits of LLE in its entirety, when we lay the necessary secondary legislation to fully implement the LLE.”––[Official Report, Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Public Bill Committee, 23 March 2023; c. 98.]

Therefore, the need for a revised impact assessment does not seem to be in dispute.

It is important, however, that the impact assessment is as thorough as possible. At the moment, we have impact assessments split across a variety of strands: attached to the Bill, the Government consultation response, and future announcements. There are some glaring gaps, noticeably on the impact on providers. The Bill’s current impact assessment stresses that the

“overall impact is likely to be ambiguous because of various opposing effects.”

It is important that those effects are considered in the round in any future impact assessment.

Even if the Minister does not accept the new clause, I would welcome his commitment to producing a post-enactment impact assessment, pulling together the variety of loose strands across different announcements. I would also welcome his commitment to publishing a revised impact assessment before he lays any regulations under the Bill, and a commitment on when he intends to do that.

Amendment 5 is linked to the aim of new clause 2. It would require the Minister to publish a written ministerial statement before tabling any regulations under the Bill. The amendment would require any written statement to take into account the interaction between the regulation and the policy proposal. On Second Reading, I described the Bill as an “exoskeleton without a body”—that is to say, a framework without much policy substance. After detailed debate in Committee, I understand some of the reasons why the Bill is technical in design and therefore somewhat policy-light. What amendment 5 seeks to do, however, is to link the policy objectives of lifelong learning to the secondary legislation tabled under the Bill. It would close the gap between the Bill’s skeletal framework and the policy announced by the Government.

Amendments 5 and 3, the second of which would subject all regulations made under the Bill to the affirmative procedure, are guided by one simple aim: parliamentary oversight. In Committee, the Minister confirmed that regulations determining the fee method, the number of credits attached to credit-differential activity, the number of learning hours attached to credit, the maximum number of credits and the uprating of the lifelong learning entitlement would all be subject to the affirmative process. I welcome that commitment and have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the Minister’s promise. However, given that we have had, I think, three Ministers in the last 10 months, there is uncertainty about the commitment —or lack of it—to that on the part of others. Given that the Minister supports the central thrust of amendment 3 and is a keen supporter of parliamentary oversight and a pragmatist, I hope that he will be prepared to assert Parliament’s right to scrutiny in the Bill.

Amendment 4 would limit the use of the saving and transitional provisions in the Bill to the end of September 2024. I tabled a similar amendment in Committee that would have limited their usage to the end of January 2024. The Minister confirmed that the Government

“are not intending to lay the broader suite of regulations to enable the LLE until after January 2024.”—[Official Report, Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Public Bill Committee, 23 March 2023; c. 111.]

I understand the reasons behind the need for flexibility—after all, lifelong learning is a fundamental change in the structure of the student loans system—but the Minister will no doubt be aware of the need for providers, students and the Student Loans Company to have adequate time to prepare.

On the Minister’s own timeline, continuing to table saving and transitional provisions after September 2024 would leave less than one complete academic year before the expansion of LLE to level 4 courses in September 2025. What assurances can he give the sector that the vast majority—if not all—of the regulations will be laid by or before September 2024? Can he be a little more specific than any time after January 2024?

Finally, I turn to new clause 1, which would require the Secretary of State to conduct a review of the Bill’s impact on a variety of factors after the launch of lifelong learning for level 4 in the 2025 academic year. It would need to be published before the expansion in the 2027-28 academic year to levels 4, 5 and 6. The Secretary of State would then have to conduct an annual review every subsequent year taking into account learner uptake, employer spending, the provision of courses on offer, the financial sustainability of the sector, the Student Loans Company and the Office for Students. I will touch on a few of those points to illustrate why such a review is so crucial.

On the Bill’s impact on learner uptake, we know that there is a huge job to be done. As Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor of the University of Sunderland, reminded us in Committee, accelerated courses were once poised to be the next big thing but never really materialised. The same can honestly be said of T-levels. The Education Committee’s report into post-16 education, which was published last week—the Minister will be more than familiar with it—revealed that 63% of young people had not even heard of T-levels. As Rachel Sandby-Thomas, the registrar at the University of Warwick, put it:

“The take-up has been disappointing”––[Official Report, Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Public Bill Committee, 21 March 2023; c. 33, Q75.]

The National Careers Service—incidentally, this was introduced by my friend Gordon Marsden, the former Member of Parliament for Blackpool South—would be the most obvious choice for helping to deliver information, advice and guidance. I am reliably informed that the NCS is now poorly resourced and unable to meet the demand for face-to-face appointments, and has been described by the Local Government Association as in need of a “radical shake up”. How on earth, therefore, does the Minister expect adequate information, advice and guidance to be provided to prospective learners when the most obvious mechanism available to deliver it has been so stretched and under-resourced these past few years?

Of course, none of that is to say that LLE will not propel an enormous wave of adult learners and upskillers, but recent policy announcements suggest the need for an enormous communications campaign, a large investment of resources and a clear understanding of the barriers to uptake. A review, as proposed in new clause 1, would achieve that aim. Linked to that, the impact of the Bill on the courses on offer and the financial sustainability of the sector will be one of the main factors in determining whether the policy is a success.

Given the declining unit of resource, the urgent need for a review in post-16 education funding, as the Education Committee has called for, and the additional costs incurred by modular study, there is a risk, albeit small, that the policy might stretch providers too far and too thinly. I note the Minister indicated that the wider LLE impact assessment, which is being updated as the policy develops, expects increased uptake of technical provision, modular study and part-time study to expand opportunities for providers to generate revenue. That is good news. However, circumstances change, populations grow and shrink, and universities are under greater pressure to deliver. The assessment therefore needs to be continual.

On a final point—one that was raised in Committee—the reform will inevitably help those currently in the workforce to reskill and retrain. Given that the apprenticeship levy has been so poorly used, with just 31% of levy-paying employers in a recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development poll claiming that it had encouraged them to spend on training, down from 46% five years ago, there is clearly a pressing need for reskilling and workplace training. However, there is obviously a balance to be struck between meeting the needs of employers and those needs being imposed on workers, and meeting the expectations of citizens to have access to further educational experiences for their own fulfilment. There is a real risk that employers will use the system to burden their employees and potential hires with debt to fulfil their own internal skills gaps. I know that the Minister would not want the system to be used purely for that purpose and new clause 1 would keep an ongoing eye on that practice. I would be interested to hear any further thoughts the Minister has had since Committee on what steps he might be inclined to take to prevent the misapplication of the LLE by employers.

I will draw my remarks to a close. I reiterate my support, and the Labour party’s support, for the Bill and the policy it underpins. The amendments we have tabled reflect that support, while seeking to futureproof the policy to ensure it has a long-lasting impact over successive election cycles and decades. We want it to be successful. By far the most important of the amendments we have tabled today is on the need for review to guard against any unintended effects of the policy, engage parliamentary oversight and provide an avenue for all stakeholders to continue to feed into the policy outcome. It is for that reason that we will be pressing new clause 1 to a Division.

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

Ahead of speaking to the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), I would like to thank Members from across the Chamber for their contributions and the spirit of the amendments tabled, as well as the spirit in which they invested in the Bill and its transformational programme.

I will start with new clause 1, which seeks to require the Secretary of State to publish an ongoing annual review on the impact of the Act from academic year 2025-26. I understand the new clause intends to require the Secretary of State to conduct and publish a review on the impact of the Act, in particular covering the phased introduction of modular provision from 2025. As hon. Members will be aware, the Government published an impact assessment for the Bill, which includes a consideration of the impact of modularisation, including on providers.

If I may, I will recount to Members how the Government intend to introduce the LLE. The LLE will provide individuals with loan entitlements to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education to use over their working lives, for example £37,000 in today’s fees. The LLE will be available from 2025 for full courses at levels 4 to 6, such as degrees and higher technical qualifications. In addition, the LLE will begin a phased introduction of modular funding, starting in 2025, with modules of high-value technical courses at level 4 and 5. The Government are particularly keen to ensure a wide range of high quality level 4 and 5 modules are in scope from 2025-26. That will pave the way for expanding out new modular funding to broader level 4, 5 and 6 provision in 2027, where we can be confident of positive student outcomes.

There will be an opportunity to contribute to the approach of the expansion of modular funding. As set out in the Government’s response, we intend to launch a technical consultation next year to specify how we will determine funding for wider modules. I agree with the sentiment behind new clause 1 on the importance of monitoring the function of the LLE in line with policy intention. However, introducing an ongoing review into primary legislation before the policy has been fully implemented or had sufficient time to bed in would not be appropriate. Additionally, the Government believe a yearly report without an end date could be an undue and disproportionate burden at this stage. For that reason, the Government believe it neither necessary nor appropriate to introduce an ongoing review requirement on the face of primary legislation and that is why we cannot support new clause 1.

New clause 2 introduces a requirement to publish a revised impact assessment. It would have the effect of requiring the Secretary of State, before the laying of secondary legislation, to publish a revised impact assessment, taking into account any development of policy on the LLE. I am in full agreement with the intent behind new clause 2, which is to ensure there is adequate and ongoing analysis of the impacts of policy to inform decision making and scrutiny of legislation. As Members are aware, the Government published an impact assessment for the Bill on its introduction, on 1 February. The Government subsequently published an updated impact assessment for the LLE as a whole, alongside the publication of the consultation response, on 7 March. The impact assessment published in March contained the following commitment, on page 18:

“In accordance with the Better Regulation Framework, more detailed assessments of impacts, including quantification of expected costs and benefits of the different aspects of LLE policy, will be published in due course at the point when the government lays the necessary secondary legislation to fully implement LLE.”

I therefore reiterate and give assurance that the Government intend to publish an updated impact assessment for the LLE ahead of the laying of regulations. It is not necessary to codify that on the face of primary legislation and that is why the Government cannot support new clause 2.

On amendment 4 and the transitional measures referred to by the Opposition spokesman, the amendment requires any regulations on transitional arrangements to be made in connection with the coming into force of the Bill to be laid before the end of September 2024. Due to the complexity of the regulations required, and consistent with our plans to introduce the LLE from 2025, the Government intend to lay the broader suite of regulations to enable the LLE at the earliest in mid to late 2024. Those regulations are likely to include transitional and saving provisions needed in relation to the new powers in clauses 1 and 2. As hon. Members will be aware, the laying of regulations is subject to available parliamentary time. It would not be helpful at this point to prescribe a specific period. However, the Government agree that regulations need to be laid in a timely manner.

--- Later in debate ---

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

I welcome the Minister’s assurances, both in Committee and now, that regulations will specify the number of hours that make up a credit. However, does he agree that putting the definition of a credit in the Bill, as proposed in my amendment 2, would give higher education providers confidence that credit values would not be devalued either by this Government or any future Governments?

[Robert Halfon]

I understand the intention behind the hon. Lady’s amendments. Putting the learning hours into secondary legislation rather than primary means that providers that use a different number of learning hours per credit will simply have their courses treated as non-credit-bearing, rather than being considered in breach of fee limits as a whole. The Office for Students would have the ability to take action against the provider from a quality and standards standpoint if it deems necessary, but the provider would not face additional consequences for reaching the fee limit rules.

We do not intend to change the number of learning hours in a credit unless the standards in the sector change. Learning hours are and should continue to be based on sector-led standards. Regulations on learning hours will have to follow the affirmative resolution procedure, so Parliament will always get the chance to have a say. The approach protects the existing use of credits as a standard that is owned and maintained by the sector, and ensures that the autonomy of the sector continues to be upheld but also allows a flexible approach in case standards change.

For the reasons that I have set out, and given that we are subjecting so many of our regulations to the affirmative procedure, as laid out in the delegated powers memorandum, which the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington will have seen, there is no need for amendment 3 in primary legislation. I hope that he will be satisfied with that and will withdraw it.

Amendment 5, which stands in the names of the hon. Members for Warwick and Leamington and for Chesterfield, would require the Government to publish a written ministerial statement ahead of laying the first set of regulations under the Act, updating the House on the progress of the lifelong loan entitlement policy and how the regulations aim to support it. The Government will endeavour to publish a written ministerial statement ahead of laying regulations under this Act on both the development of regulations and the progress that the short course trial has made. However, it is not necessary to enshrine that commitment in primary legislation.

I would like to bring to the attention of the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington that the Government’s intention is to lay the first regulation under the Act in mid to late 2024. It is possible that regulations under the Bill will be the first made. In addition, as is standard practice, explanatory memoranda will be laid alongside all regulations, which will explain the scope and purpose of the regulations. The Government will also publish those on the legislation.gov.uk website, explaining what the regulations do and why.

As I mentioned earlier, the majority of regulations under the Act—certainly, all those that go to determine the actual fee limits—will be subject to the affirmative procedure and all Members of the House will have an opportunity to debate the regulations in Committee. Members appointed to the Committee will be able to vote, once they have been referred to the Delegated Legislation Committee. As such, the amendment is not necessary and the Government cannot support it, so I hope that Members feel able to withdraw it.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Halfon]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

Let me start by thanking all hon. and right hon. Members for their contributions, not just today but on Second Reading and on Report. I really welcome the way in which my counterpart the Opposition spokesman, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), has approached the debate, because we are all united in our desire to support people to access higher and further education and to learn, upskill and retrain over the course of their working lives.

I want to extend my thanks to all those who have participated in the passage of the Bill so far. My thanks go to my hon. Friends the Members for Keighley (Robbie Moore), for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) and for Stourbridge (Suzanne Webb) for their support throughout the passage of the Bill, as well as to the hon. Members for Warwick and Leamington and for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins), who have engaged constructively at every stage of the Bill. I am grateful to them both for their work in challenging us to ensure that the Bill is fit for purpose.

The hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington spoke on Report about T-levels, and I am proud that the number of T-level students has gone up to 10,000. We have 16 T-level subjects in delivery, with a total of 18 from September. We are spending up to £500 million on T-levels, which have a 92% pass rate, with many students progressing to university, employment and apprenticeships, and we have invested £240 million to help providers prepare to deliver high-quality industry placements. The apprenticeship levy is important, as we have had more than 5 million apprenticeship starts since 2010. The number of apprentices increased by 8.6% in 2021-22, and the money not used by levy payers, as he knows, funds training so that smaller businesses can have more apprentices. We have just removed the 10 apprentice cap for smaller businesses. We are doing a lot of good work on apprenticeships.

On Second Reading, a range of Members voiced their support for both this legislation and the lifelong loan entitlement, and it is important for me to thank the extraordinary Clerks and officials in Parliament and the Department for Education for their diligent work in supporting the Bill’s passage through this place. None of this would have been possible without their work, and I think Members on both sides of the House express our appreciation.

It is an honour to champion this transformational Bill in this place, and I look forward to the LLE improving our skills system and supporting people into fulfilling and lasting careers. With this Bill, we are transforming lifelong learning in this country. People will now be on a train journey with an end stop at which they get their qualification, but they will be able to start and stop at various points in their life through flexible and modular learning. This Bill will be transformational, and I commend it to the House.

Office for Students

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 26th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Dame Maria. I congratulate the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) on securing this debate. It feels a bit like groundhog day, because we served together on the Education Committee. I have the highest regard for her work, not just on higher education but on special educational needs and disabilities, mental health and post-16 education. I am very happy to be debating the important matter of the OfS with her. I have had the privilege of visiting Ron Dearing University Technical College in her constituency, which is doing an incredible job in transforming the lives of thousands of students.

Before following through on the OfS issues, I want to begin by setting out how I see higher education, because it very much forms the architecture of what we are talking about today. Higher education of course plays many important roles in our society—developing people’s education and academic talents, academic knowledge, and world-class research and innovation, which are absolutely important—but for me the three key things are meeting the skills needs of the economy, providing high-quality qualifications leading to excellent, well-paid jobs, and advancing social justice. What I mean by that is ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, can not only access high-quality education, but complete their studies and get good skills and knowledge, and jobs at the end. The OfS is essential to upholding the quality and ensuring the success of the higher education system and the aims that I have suggested.

Before I turn to the OfS specifically, it is important to briefly highlight the fact that we have an ambitious skills agenda, as the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle pointed out, with £3.8 billion of extra investment over the Parliament. We are using that to expand and strengthen both higher education and further education. We are investing an extra £750 million in the HE sector up to 2025, to support high-quality teaching and facilities, particularly in science and engineering subjects, and to support NHS and degree apprenticeships. The hon. Member’s university, the University of Hull, is receiving more than £10 million in the strategic priorities grant, so I hope that she is pleased about that.

There is also, of course, the money that goes to UK Research and Innovation, which is £25 billion over the spending review. That is £6.2 billion for Research England, which funds our higher education institutions. The latest estimate shows that the income of English higher education providers in 2021 from tuition fees in education was £21.6 billion, which was 55% of the total income of £39.77 billion.

I was going to talk about the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill, as I thought it would come up, but we have plenty of time next week when we discuss the Bill on Report and Third Reading. The Bill will be very important, because the lifelong loan entitlement will provide everyone with a loan of up to £37,000 to do flexible and modular learning. There will be level 4, level 5 and level 6 provision, and it will start with level 4 and level 5. The OfS and the new register of FE colleges will provide the LLE, and those owners will have an important role.

Let me turn to the OfS and its vital work to support the Government’s priorities. I commend the activity of the OfS, for the most part, over the last five years to put in place the regulatory framework and to register providers. The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle talked about the cost, which boils down to just under £13 per student. She also talked about regulation, and I completely get that. I am not a believer in small or big Government; I believe in good Government. I am not a believer in loads of regulation or low regulation, but in good regulation. To be fair to the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), he said that as well.

Of course, I recognise that regulation creates a burden for those being regulated, but it is important that the benefit of regulation outweighs the burden. Seeking to minimise the regulatory burden is a key focus. It is set out in the strategy to 2025. I wanted to go as far as possible in doing so. The OfS has already taken significant steps to reduce the data burden it places on providers. In 2022, it removed the need for all providers to send monitoring returns for access and participation plans. It significantly reduced its enhanced monitoring requirements, which are now less than a quarter of what they were in 2019. It has published its intention to become increasingly risk-based in the way it monitors compliance. It also plans to vary further the regulatory requirements placed on individual providers according to the risks they pose, which will affect the impact of its regulation on those that pose the highest risk.

In terms of the regulation of small providers, of course the OfS does apply the same requirements for all types of providers. Whatever provider they go to, students should expect the same quality of education outcomes, protection and support to complete their courses. I accept that the regulatory burden should be minimised, including for small providers, and the OfS has a plan to minimise it. When it does so, it must have regard to the regulation code principles on determining general policy. The regulation code is less relevant to the work of the OfS when carrying out individual investigations and taking enforcement action, but it does take compliance very seriously.

OfS fees are tiered by student numbers, so providers with fewer numbers, such as FE colleges, will pay less in fees. In response to the question from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington, we are reviewing the high cost per student for smaller providers when we consider the fees for 2024-25. We are considering those general fees at this time.

On the important point about the QAA, it chose to withdraw consent for designation. If the English system is not in line with the European standard, it is because we do not have cyclical reviews, which we consider disproportionate in terms of regulation. As the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle highlighted, the OfS will take on the quality assessment role in the interim, while consideration is given to a permanent arrangement. I have met university stakeholders to discuss those issues.

[Paul Blomfield]

Will the Minister give way?

[Robert Halfon]

I will in a minute. I have a fair bit to add and want to make the following point, because the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) is so kind and comes to a lot of these debates on education and skills, as well as many other debates. I will have dialogue with the regulatory bodies. I was planning to visit them when visiting for the anniversary of the Northern Irish agreement, but unfortunately my slip was withdrawn because I had to vote in the House of Commons. Otherwise, I would have been there and visited universities and colleges in Northern Ireland. I very much hope that I will be able to make that visit. I note that at Queen’s University Belfast, 99% of the research environment is world leading and internationally excellent. I think it is No. 108 in the world, so congratulations to Queen’s University.

[Jim Shannon]

As far as we are concerned, it is No. 1.

[Robert Halfon]

I have a lot more to day, but I will give way to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central now.

[Paul Blomfield]

I thank the Minister for giving way. I agree with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that the Minister is widely respected for his work on education and his appointment to this job was welcomed. But I want to return to my earlier point about the OfS’s regulatory approach. When I debated the establishment of the OfS in Bill Committee with the Minister’s predecessor, I argued that we had a reasonable regulatory framework—the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The Minister at the time argued that it was important to put students at the heart of regulation. That is why it was called the Office for Students. Does the Minister agree that, if it is to live up to that name, it should do what it says and give a much stronger voice for students in the whole process of regulation? He does not agree with my concern that students have been marginalised, but will he set out how we could give students a stronger place in the OfS’s approach to regulating the sector?

[Robert Halfon]

That is an important question, and the hon. Gentleman is one of the key higher education spokesmen in the House of Commons. I am absolutely supportive of student representation. The student panel is incredibly important. I made a decision as a Minister to interview one of the members of the student panel. I did not have to do that—I could have just ticked the submission and said that Mr X or Ms X is fine—but I took proactive interest, because it is incredibly important to do so.

I met the student panel, and I want it to have a voice. I went to an OfS event in the House of Commons a couple of weeks ago. I spent time chatting to the student panel, which is essential in this. As long as it is used properly and listened to, it is the best conduit for ensuring that student voices are heard. The student panel has teeth. I will keep a watch over it, even though the OfS is independent and I do not have operational control. It is a bit like the police: the Mayor of London might have a say over the chief constable, but he does not necessarily tell them what to do day by day. Nevertheless, the student panel is incredibly important, so I accept what the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) says.

The hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston asked me about the taskforce. It last met in full in June 2022, and there has been a subsequent meeting of arms-length bodies, separately, to discuss progress and to identify areas of work to take forward.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that higher education is preparing students for high-quality employment: three quarters of graduates from full-time first degree courses progressed into high-skilled employment or further study 15 months after graduating in 2020. But more must be done to tackle the pockets of poor quality that persist, and the OfS is committed to doing that. The OfS has revised its registration conditions in relation to quality and standards to ensure that they are robust, and it is rightly now taking action to investigate and enforce those conditions.

We want to ensure that students see returns on their investment in higher education. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that the net lifetime return from an undergraduate degree is £100,000 for women and £130,000 for men, but it should be noted that the IFS has also found that 25% of male graduates and 15% of female ones will take home less money over their careers than peers who do not get an undergraduate degree. I think that graduates should be achieving outcomes that are consistent with the qualifications that they have completed and paid for.

To give an opposing example, it is a testament to the genuinely excellent teaching and leadership at the University of Hull that nursing and midwifery students experience the highest progression rate—98%—compared to all other OfS-registered HE providers with available progression data, and that the university has performed above the OfS threshold for continuation, completion and progression. I say those things to highlight not just the brilliant work of the University of Hull but the important work that the OfS is doing. Without the work of the OfS, we would not have that kind of information.

I talked about social justice, which is very important to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle and to me. I want to ensure that no student is excluded from higher education because of their background. A wider point has been made about us putting extra burdens on the OfS, but it has recently launched the equality of opportunity risk register to highlight key risks that can impact negatively on disadvantaged and under-represented student groups across the whole of the student lifecycle. That is an extra thing for the OfS to do, but I want it to happen. I am delighted with that. I do not like the name “risk register”, but nevertheless the principle is really important. It will empower higher education providers to develop effective interventions and support at-risk students, helping them not only get in but get on. I have a lot more to day about Hull University. It really is doing some remarkable things, and I hope to be able to go there one day and see it.

The hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle cares deeply about mental health. We have allocated £15 million from the strategic priorities grant to the OfS for mental health support. That is another OfS duty and its purpose is to support students’ wellbeing when they transition to university, and to create opportunities for partnerships between providers and the national health service. The OfS has a role to play in funding Student Space, an online platform for mental health and wellbeing resources. The OfS also runs a mental health challenge competition with Northumbria University. It has supported projects to ensure that mental health needs are identified by providers. That is another important role for the OFS. Yes, the OfS has increased its role, but it is doing really important things that will make a difference to many students’ lives.

I knew that the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle would bring up degree apprenticeships. I have some sympathy with what she says; there is too much regulation, and all I can say to her is to please watch this space. I am looking at it very carefully to see what can be done. Of course, we also have to maintain quality, because if we do not have quality, I will have the shadow spokesman, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington, get up in Education questions and ask why apprenticeship provision is so poor. The hon. Lady will be pleased that over the next two years we will increase from £8 million to £40 million—£16 million in the first year, and £24 million in the second—the funding to promote degree apprenticeships among providers. I know she will support that extra funding.

A House of Lords inquiry has criticised the OfS registration fees for being too high. As I have mentioned, however, in the light of the Government’s commitment to funding skills over the Parliament, the OfS registration fees offer value for money. It is currently around £26 million a year, which is less than £13 per student. I do not think that feels like a high price to pay to ensure that we have a high-quality system working in the interests of students.

In conclusion, the work of the Government, which I have outlined, and of the OfS regulator will continue to deliver on skills, jobs and social justice. I accept that there is over-regulation—the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle highlighted some unnecessary regulation that I will look at with officials at the Department for Education. However, we have a world-class higher education sector. I am not complacent about it. I acknowledge that there is not enough in some areas, and that some graduates are not getting good, skilled jobs, but many—in fact, most—higher education providers deliver a top-class education and equip students with the skills they need to get excellent jobs. I am clear that a robust and fair regulator—a good regulator—is vital to ensuring that our higher education sector remains world leading and protects students and the taxpayer.

I think that the OfS has achieved a fair bit in the first five years of its existence. It has registered 400 providers. It has also registered the new Dyson Institute, which is—

[Emma Hardy]

Hoovering up students!

[Robert Halfon]

Very good. I have been to that university. I met James Dyson some years ago when I was the Chair of the Education Committee. It was extraordinary. I hope that there will be many more examples of universities like that one. The Department will work closely with the OfS to ensure that we continue supporting a world-class higher education system. As I said, I remain committed to delivering on skills, jobs and social justice. The OfS will be an absolutely crucial part of that.

[Matt Western]

Will the Minister give way?

[Robert Halfon]

How could I say no to the hon. Gentleman?

[Matt Western]

I was hoping that the Minister could cover the three questions I raised at the end.

[Robert Halfon]

I thought I had answered most of the questions.

[Matt Western]

There was one about political interference, which may be difficult for the Minister to answer. Could I go back to the second question? It was about whether he had any plans to raise registration fees. I also had a question about an assessment of the value for money that the OfS represents, particularly in the context of other regulators.

[Robert Halfon]

I am happy to answer. I think I said that we are considering OfS registration fees and that I will come back about that matter in due course. I do not recognise any political interference. Since becoming a Minister, I have had meetings with the OfS chief executive and chair, and we have literally just discussed what needs to be done to make sure that the organisation continues its work and that we continue to have a world-class university system.

I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon—what was the third point?

[Matt Western]

Assessment of value for money.

[Robert Halfon]

Ah, yes. I think the OfS is providing value for money. First, as I mentioned, the cost to students is just under £13, which represents value for money. More importantly, what are the outcomes? If we have great universities, as we do, and we are meeting the country’s skills needs, promoting degree apprenticeships and acting further on mental health and other areas, including social justice, to make sure that disadvantaged students have the right outcomes, as we are, then the OfS will absolutely be providing value for money.

Further Education: Capital Loans Scheme

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

I am today announcing the opening of a new capital loans scheme. The scheme will provide loans to colleges in England with capital projects, either underway or in advanced stages of planning, that have a funding gap because of restrictions on commercial borrowing following the Office for National Statistics decision to classify colleges as part of central Government. The college capital loans scheme is in addition to the package of measures we announced at the point of reclassification, including an additional £150 million allocation of capital grant funding to be provided in April 2023, an additional £53 million focused on delivering small-scale energy efficiency improvements across the college estate provided in December 2022, and investing £300 million in reprofiling of payments before the end of the current financial year.

The Department for Education is making great progress in transforming the further education estate. In the current spending review period, we are investing £2.8 billion in England’s college estate to build a world-class skills system that delivers the skills that the economy needs. This investment is improving the condition of the estate; providing new places in post-16 education; supporting the purchase of specialist equipment and facilities needed for T-Levels; and delivering the commitment to establish 20 institutes of technology across England. Most recently, we confirmed the £286 million FE capital transformation fund allocation. This will allow eligible colleges to prioritise and deliver projects to improve the condition of their estate.

I remain fully committed to the successful delivery and completion of all college capital projects benefiting from grant funding from my Department. All colleges delivering DFE grant-funded capital projects with evidence of intent to borrow commercially prior to reclassification will be eligible to apply for this new scheme. The scheme will also provide a route for meeting funding gaps faced by other capital projects being delivered by colleges themselves, including those funded by other Government Departments, subject to meeting the eligibility and assessment criteria set out in guidance published today.

We aim to offer loans to eligible DFE grant-funded capital projects by the summer, and self-funded capital projects by the autumn.

The new college capital loans scheme will ensure that our skills reforms stay on track, providing a ladder of opportunity that enables young people and adults to get good jobs and progress in their careers and build the skilled workforce that businesses need.

[HCWS739]

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Siobhan Baillie (Stroud) (Con)]

22. What steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of degree apprenticeships.

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

My hon. Friend will know that “degree apprenticeships” are my two favourite words in the English language. My hon. Friend’s constituency of Wantage has had 330 extra degree-level apprentices since 2018. We have had over 180,000 starts overall since 2014 and we are investing an additional—an additional —£40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeships.

[David Johnston]

My right hon. Friend is a great supporter of degree apprenticeships, as am I, but he will know they do not always function as the route for social mobility that they should. We have seen a much higher proportion of the most affluent young people obtain them than we have the poorest young people, so what is he doing to ensure disadvantaged students get their fair share of degree apprenticeships?

[Robert Halfon]

We are transforming careers advice on apprenticeships in our schools and targeting that advice towards disadvantaged students. The Office for Students has asked higher education to increase the proportion of level 4, 5 and degree apprenticeships as part of reforms to wider access. We also increased the care leavers bursary from £1,000 to £3,000, and are providing £1,000 to employers and training providers when they recruit young people. Our determination is to get more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds doing degree apprenticeships and apprenticeships across the board.

[Siobhan Baillie]

During a recent visit to the excellent South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, the Minister and I were quite properly schooled by two smart apprentices, who told us quite bluntly what they thought of the Government communications campaign to encourage apprenticeships and raise awareness of them. They were not hugely impressed and had some ideas themselves. After meeting the Stroud apprentices, will my right hon. Friend consider creating a new national campaign to raise awareness of this really important use of learning?

[Robert Halfon]

I had a wonderful visit with my hon. Friend to the excellent South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. She is absolutely right that we need to communicate the good work of apprenticeships and we are doing exactly that. We have a national campaign, Skills for Life, which is all over the national media. As I mentioned in my previous answer, we are also transforming careers advice on apprenticeships to ensure that students and learners have interactions with apprentice organisations to encourage them to do apprenticeships when they leave school. We have also worked with UCAS to ensure that apprenticeships are treated at the same level as when people apply for degrees.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The number of apprenticeship starts has dropped significantly this year, and around £600 million of the levy was returned to the Treasury in the last year. Given the skills shortages affecting our economy, would it not make sense to let businesses in my constituency and elsewhere utilise at least some of that returned money for relevant non-apprenticeship training designed to alleviate the skills gap?

[Robert Halfon]

The hon. Gentleman cares passionately about these things. Apprenticeship starts increased by 8.6% in the past year. I am happy to send him the figures. For higher apprentices, that increased by 11%. The £600 million that he talked about—or £750 million, as quoted by the newspapers over the weekend—is money from the overall United Kingdom apprenticeship levy that was sent to the devolved authorities for them to spend on skills as they see fit.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for that response. It is important that everyone has the opportunity to do degree apprenticeships, working in partnership with businesses and companies to ensure that the opportunity works on the floor. It is important that ladies have the same opportunities as men. How is the Minister ensuring that ladies have those opportunities as well?

[Robert Halfon]

The hon. Gentleman is exactly right that we want to encourage more women to do apprenticeships, especially STEM apprenticeships. As I mentioned, we are doing a lot of work on careers. The apprenticeship and skills network is going around schools promoting apprenticeships and targeting disadvantaged students and areas where we need more female apprentices, including in STEM.

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

9. What steps her Department is taking to encourage people over the age of 16 to take up apprenticeships.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

We are improving quality and supporting more apprentices to successfully complete their programmes. We have moved from frameworks to standards, we have asked all apprenticeship providers to reregister on the register of apprenticeship training providers, Ofsted will inspect all providers by 2025 and we have provided £7.5 million for a provider workforce development programme.

[Rob Roberts]

A constituent was in touch with me recently as his daughter has started a level 3 veterinary nursing qualification. There are no places to take that qualification in north Wales, so she registered with a training provider just across the border, in Chester. As she works for a veterinary practice in Colwyn Bay and spends more than 50% of her practical learning time in Wales, she is not eligible for English apprenticeship funding, yet the Welsh Government say that, because the training provider is based in England, she is not eligible for Welsh apprenticeship funding either. Can my right hon. Friend tell me why it is so difficult for the UK and Welsh Governments to work together on such things, so that people such as my constituent do not fall through the cracks?

[Robert Halfon]

My hon. Friend has been a battler for his constituent and has written to me about this case. A 50% rule has been developed to support apprenticeship training for those who spend some of their time working in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. That rule is maintained, but I will continue to support cross-Government collaboration to see if these problems can be sorted out and I am happy to write to the Welsh Government about his constituent’s case.

[Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

11. What recent assessment she has made of the quality and value of education provided by independent schools in England.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

T9. The latest Government data, released last Thursday, reports a 4.1% drop in apprenticeship starts compared with the 2021-22 academic year. I have a great deal of respect for the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, but is he sure he was right to claim in an earlier answer that apprenticeship starts rose this year?

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

I am very happy to write to the hon. Gentleman to explain that, over the past year— 2021-22—we increased apprenticeship starts by 8.6%, as I mentioned earlier.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

T7. I was pleased to see a commitment in the SEND improvement plan to train up to 5,000 level 3-qualified special educational needs co-ordinators and teachers to ensure that children identified as having SEND can thrive in school. Does my hon. Friend agree that expanding this training and working to make it a mandatory part of all training for teachers and co-ordinators will improve the baseline assessments looking for SEND markers in those entering school.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

At the last Education questions, the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education noted that he is very proud of the UK’s intake of 600,000 international students every year. International students, as we know, inject billions into our economy, bring huge value to our campuses and enrich our wider society. Can he therefore confirm on the record that the Government will not introduce an illogical policy designed to restrict foreign students?

[Robert Halfon]

What I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman is that our target remains at 600,000 international students a year, and we currently have just under 680,000 a year. Obviously, these are matters for the Home Office.

[Eddie Hughes (Walsall North) (Con)]

I am a member of the all-party parliamentary group on music. Has the Minister considered replicating the success of the London BRIT School in Bradford?

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education: De-designation as Designated Quality Body

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

Today, I am announcing the de-designation of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) as designated quality body (DQB) for higher education in England under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (HERA).

Assessing quality and standards is an integral part of considering applications to join the Office for Students (OFS) register, which enables providers to access student finance, sponsor visas for international students, and to become eligible to be granted degree-awarding powers among other benefits.

HERA makes provision for a body to be designated to carry out assessment functions under the Act. The DQB assesses quality and standards in relation to relevant conditions for providers registered or registering with the OFS. It also provides advice to the OFS regarding quality and standards in connection with the grant, variation and revocation of providers’ degree awarding powers.

QAA has been designated since April 2018. On 20 July 2022, QAA announced that it would no longer consent to be the DQB after the current DQB year ends on 31 March 2023. The OFS supports QAA’s request for its designation to be removed given that it has significant concerns about QAA’s performance, which it has set out in its triennial report on the DQB’s performance.

The Secretary of State is required to consult before removing the designation, even where the DQB has asked to be de-designated. Accordingly, my Department consulted from 8 February to 3 March 2023. The Government response to this consultation will be published today. An overall majority of responses—31 of 47—disagreed with de-designation. I have considered these responses carefully and appreciate that a number of higher education providers would prefer QAA to remain as DQB. However, QAA has made it clear that it would no longer be content to be the DQB. I also note that the majority of responses from representative bodies on behalf of their members agreed with de-designation, including Universities UK which represents 140 providers.

Having considered the responses to the consultation, and QAA’s decision to step down from the DQB role, I have concluded that QAA should be de-designated as DQB. I will therefore publish a notice to remove the designation with effect from 1 April 2023.

Where no body is designated to perform the assessment functions, the functions revert to the OFS. The OFS has confirmed that, from 1 April 2023, it will undertake all quality and standards assessment activity on an interim basis pending further consideration of future arrangements. The DFE, OFS and HE stakeholders will work closely to consider options for long-term arrangements for the assessment of quality and standards.

I will deposit a copy of the Government response to this consultation in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS695]

Electronics Technology Skills: North Lancashire

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mr Hollobone, and I extend special congratulations to my hon. Friend—a real friend—the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (David Morris) on securing the debate. He is a champion of skills. He has spoken about electronic skills needs in his constituency and the work going on to tackle it, such as the electech clusters established by businesses in the area. I congratulate him on securing £50 million for Eden Project Morecambe in the second round of the UK Government’s levelling-up fund. In all my years as an MP, I do not think I have been to a parliamentary event without him campaigning for that project. He is an extraordinary campaigner and his constituents are lucky to have him. He has worked for five years to secure the funding, which will be transformative. Importantly, it will also boost skills hugely in the region, especially construction skills and other related areas, so he deserves great credit for that success.

My hon. Friend knows that technological change and the future economic direction of the country means that, as he has highlighted, demand for STEM skills—science, technology, engineering and maths—such as electronics, in the economy is growing. STEM will be at the heart of the UK’s transition to a net zero economy. That is not just about saying that we need to get to net zero; it is because many of the skills of the future will be green skills. Our aim in the net zero strategy is to support 440,000 green jobs across green industries in 2030. To meet STEM skill needs, we know that intervention is needed at every stage of the pipeline, so that we can ensure that individuals can climb the skills ladder of opportunity by having access to high-quality STEM education and training. Of course, we must take action to expand access to these opportunities. Key to that is ensuring that we get students into STEM across all stages, right from early years to higher education. Whenever I visit schools or colleges around the country, I always ask and encourage people to go into STEM subjects. It is important for them and it is important for our country—it is the future.

It is worth highlighting that in schools we have increased spending on maths, digital and technical education to try to increase the uptake of better teaching of STEM subjects. We have the Stimulating Physics Network and science learning partnerships to help improve teaching quality, and the STEM ambassadors programme. Through activities in schools and colleges, they raise awareness of the diverse range of STEM careers. That is working: A-level entries for maths and sciences are increasing. There were 269,525 total STEM A-level entries in 2021-22, a figure that has increased year on year since 2015. In order to meet the skills needs of our country and to ensure that people can have high-quality education and training that addresses skills gaps and boosts productivity, we will invest an additional £3.8 billion in further education and skills over this Parliament.

Knowing my background, my hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale would expect me to say that apprenticeships are central to our plans. We have transformed apprenticeships, driving up quality and making them more flexible so they better meet the needs of employers and individuals wanting to progress to successful STEM careers. We have had more than 5.3 million starts since 2010; I looked up the figures for his constituency and there have been close to 11,000 since 2010. That is 10,900 apprentices in his constituency, most of whom have had their lives transformed and who will have developed the skills they need in Morecambe and Lunesdale. Over 90% of the apprentices who complete get good jobs, usually in the companies that have trained them, or they go on to additional education. That is an achievement in itself.

My hon. Friend asked what we are doing for STEM. We have more than 650 apprenticeship standards in general, which replace the old frameworks. They aim to ensure that we have high-quality apprenticeship qualifications and that we build the prestige of apprenticeships so that it is the same as that of academic qualifications. He will be pleased to know that more than 350 of those apprenticeship standards are in STEM, including many opportunities in electronics, such as level 3 electrical, electronic product service installation, engineer level 6 and electronic technical support engineer.

By chance, yesterday I met a great man called Ray Olive. My hon. Friend might know him; he is from Morecambe and is chairman of the national T-level ambassador network. He is promoting T-levels across the country as well as in Morecambe. I had not realised that he was from Morecambe, but I told him about the debate and said that we were talking about skills. He was very interested to hear what we would have to say. Just so my hon. Friend knows, we will invest up to £500 million a year in T-levels once they are fully rolled out. They will boost access to high-quality technical education for thousands of young people. We have 11 T-levels available in STEM subjects; T-levels in engineering, manufacturing and construction will give the students the core knowledge and skills they need to enter a range of careers in the electronics sector.

My hon. Friend mentioned his Lancaster and Morecambe College; I would love to visit. I have been to Morecambe and it is such a beautiful place. I was not there for work, I was there for my holiday in that neck of the woods, and it is one of the most beautiful parts of England. He has a fantastic college, clearly. It had a “good” Ofsted rating in 2020 and will deliver T-levels that include technologies in the electric/electronic fields. It is doing a lot of work that is very important on disadvantage; it has developed a schools and community engagement programme from years 7 to 13, with a wide range of activities. That creates a pipeline that helps disadvantaged young people and encourages them to do the subjects that my hon. Friend is rightly keen on.

I looked up the figures, and I am pleased that Lancaster and Morecambe College has received a total of £1.5 million since 2020 through the Department for Education capital transformation fund, and £484,000 in 2021-22 and £193,000 in 2022-23 through the skills development fund. I will also talk about the Lancaster and Morecambe energy hub that my hon. Friend mentioned. I am glad the Government have invested in this college, which is clearly a key centre for promoting skills in his constituency and the surrounding areas.

I want to mention higher technical qualifications: level 4 and level 5. At the moment in our country, there are very low numbers of level 4 and 5 qualifications—just 4% of under-25s in England have a level 4 or 5 qualification, while just 10% of adults in general have them. With more and more employers asking for these qualifications, we have introduced higher technical qualifications—the next stage up from T-levels—which are employer-designed and approved, just like T-levels and apprenticeships, to deliver the skills employers need.

In essence, to ensure that the UK retains its position as a world-leading economy, we need to ensure that through places such as Morecambe and Lunesdale—a skills centre for my hon. Friend’s region in the United Kingdom—people of all ages can develop the skills the country and businesses need and climb the ladder of opportunity. We are therefore investing more in adult education and skills, underlining our commitment to ensure that adults at any age can upskill to reach their potential.

What does free courses for jobs mean? We are giving access, free of charge, to high-value level 3 qualifications in priority areas such as engineering, building and construction and manufacturing. There were 35,000 enrolments reported between the launch in April 2021 and January 2023. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that level 3 electrical installation and engineering courses are offered by providers that serve areas such as Lancaster and Morecambe College.

We have introduced a scale of quality qualifications, including bootcamps, which, again, are free. Everyone who goes on these flexible courses, which last up to 16 weeks, is guaranteed a job interview at the end. Employers and providers work together through the bootcamps to build up sector-specific skills. There are 900 skills bootcamps all over the country, offering training in STEM, software engineering, data analytics, mechanical engineering and engineering diagnostics, to name but a few. In north Lancashire, Tech Lancaster offers key industrial experience in electronics for adults to acquire the skills local businesses need. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that skills bootcamps have a high rate of success in his area, with 61.5% positive outcomes from delivery in 2020-21. Tech Lancaster has six bootcamps related to electric, three on electric vehicle charging-point installation and one on domestic electrical. I know how important that subject is.

If my hon. Friend does not mind, I will mention my own college in Harlow, where, with Essex County Council and many others, I recently opened an electric vehicle centre—a multimillion pound investment—which forms part of the college’s advanced manufacturing and engineering centre, where students will learn all about electric vehicles and green skills. I am pleased to see that what is going on in Harlow is also going on in Morecambe and Lunesdale. I am very proud of Harlow College for all its achievements, just as my hon. Friend is proud of his college, and rightly so, for the reasons I have mentioned.

My hon. Friend also mentioned electronic technology skills in his area. Areas across the country will clearly have different skills needs, which will be determined by the employer and learner market. We have introduced local skills improvement plans, or LSIPs—these things always have tongue-twister names—which identify and address those needs. They include colleges, the local chamber of commerce, the council and other people, particularly businesses and providers, to ensure the provision for the area, identify the skills gaps and ensure that the skills that are needed are delivered. There will be a local skills financial plan that goes alongside each LSIP.

In order to deliver the high-quality technical training that is needed, we must also ensure that that providers have high-quality state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. I mentioned some of the funds that Lancaster and Morecambe College has received. Overall, we are investing £2.8 billion in capital, including on T-levels, which are really important; on more post-16 places; and on improving the condition of FE estates over the next three years. Lancaster and Morecambe College is in my hon. Friend’s area. I said I would mention an additional thing. He will be happy with it. He touched on it in his speech. Learners at the college are benefiting from facilities supported by over £600,000 from the DFE’s skills development fund in its new sustainable energy hub.

I hope that my hon. Friend is pleased with the amount of investment. It is very much due to his incredibly hard work and his championing of skills all the time he has been a Member. Money is going to support skills, and the energy hub delivers a range of new courses. Again, we are ensuring that green skills are embedded in the curriculum.

That same development fund has enabled the college to create one of the five electric and hybrid vehicles skills centres across Lancashire, such as the one I was talking about at Harlow College, through a regional contribution of more than £1 million. That has led to the upskilling of staff in colleges across the area in a range of qualifications, including those relating to electric, hybrid and motor vehicles; electric motorsport; battery technology; and electric vehicle infrastructure. Providers now offer wide-ranging provision to employers, students and apprentices across the region in these subjects. The college has received more than £1.5 million from the DFE’s capital transformation fund since 2020.

Other colleges in the region that serve my hon. Friend’s constituents have benefited from capital investment. Many of them have STEM-assured accreditation and deliver a range of science, technology, engineering and maths provision. I am very happy to write to him with all those details. With all the different moneys received by colleges, I think we would be here for a very long time, and I do not think the Chair would approve because there is another debate after this one.

We are investing £300 million in a network of 21 institutes of technology, which are state-of-the-art, employer-led provider organisations that will work in collaboration with colleges and universities. They are incredible institutions of the future because they work with FE, they are part of HE and many are placed at FE colleges. I have seen some myself. They specialise in the skills of the future, such as infrastructure, digital, energy and transport—all the things that my hon. Friend spoke about. There will be 21 around the country. He has one; Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology will be launching in the summer. I am sure he will be at the opening because it is a very exciting skills development in his region.

For those seeking world-class STEM education at a higher-education level, we are investing more than £750 million from 2022 to 2024-25. That will support high-quality teaching and facilities, including in science and engineering. In 2022-23, more than half of the £1.3 million strategic priorities grant budget will be directed towards the provision of high-costs subjects, such as science, engineering and technology.

I hope I have assured my hon. Friend that there is a lot going on in his constituency and in the region to champion technical education and skills in STEM and in electronic skills. To achieve our ambitions, we are expanding opportunities for engagement in STEM subjects, investing more in both further and higher education, and giving people the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill throughout their lives. We have just introduced the lifelong learning entitlement, which will start from 2025. That will allow people to do flexible modular learning from levels 4 to 6, move around from institution to institution and do those shorter courses at a times their choosing. We are doing everything possible to invest in skills, infrastructure and resources and make that significant capital investment so that providers have the high-quality facilities and equipment to deliver those skills.

My hon. Friend asked me to visit his college. Subject to parliamentary duties, I would love to do so. There is nothing more I would like to do than go to Lancaster and Morecambe College to see the incredible work that it is doing to promote skills and T-levels, and to give younger people and adults brilliant qualifications. Subject to parliamentary duties, I would be very happy to visit —not just to see his beautiful constituency, but to learn about the skills and see the never-ending work that my hon. Friend is doing not just to see the implementation of the Eden Project, but to champion apprenticeships, skills, technical education and STEM across his constituency.

Question put and agreed to.

Post-16 Qualifications Review

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education (Robert Halfon)]

Today, as part of phase 2 of the post-16 qualifications review of English qualifications, we have published an update to the final list of qualifications that overlap with wave 1 and 2 T-levels, to include qualifications that overlap with health and science T-Levels. These qualifications were included in the provisional list published in May 2022 but confirmation was not included in the final list published in October 2022, due to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s review of the outline content of the health and science T-levels. This review has now concluded. Today’s update adds 28 qualifications to the list and as previously stated these will have 16 to 19 funding removed from 1 August 2024.

The removal of funding from these qualifications follows rigorous assessment by independent assessors and an opportunity for awarding organisations to appeal their decisions. The awarding organisations who will have funding removed from these 28 qualifications have been notified, as have the Federation of Awarding Bodies and Joint Council for Qualifications. My Department will also engage with further education providers on this matter.

T-levels are rigorous qualifications that provide a great progression route into a range of occupations in the health and science sector. They are based on the same standards as apprenticeships and have their content set by employers. Students that take a health and science T-level are well placed to progress into careers in the sector, including as health professionals, technicians and researchers.

We have backed providers with significant additional revenue and capital funding so that they are well prepared and have the resources to deliver T-levels to a high standard. We have made around £400 million available to improve buildings and buy state-of-the-art equipment. We recently announced a short-term 10% uplift in T-level revenue funding to help providers as they transition from study programmes and scale up and a new £12 million employer support fund to help providers deliver quality industry placements. This comes alongside a range of practical support measures that we have put in place to support providers to implement T-levels, including investing over £31 million in the T-level professional development programme (TLPD) to provide free training and support to FE providers, teachers and leaders to successfully plan and deliver T-levels.

The changes to post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below are designed to ensure that our qualifications system provides a ladder of opportunity for young people from all backgrounds. T-levels are a key part of that ladder of opportunity, helping young people climb rung by rung toward a fulfilling career. The T-level transition programme provides a high-quality pathway onto T-levels.

In addition to T-levels, students will also benefit from a range of choice in order to access careers in the health and social care and science sectors. This will include high-quality reformed qualifications at level 2 designed to support progression to apprenticeships, further study, and employment. At level 3, students will also be able to choose to study a health and social care-related qualification as part of a mixed study programme.

I am pleased that we have taken this next step in ensuring our post-16 qualifications system provides young people with the skills employers need and which are fit for the future.

[HCWS684]