Construction Sector: Skills Shortage
Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Baroness Smith of Malvern(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
The noble Lord makes a really important point about the power of government procurement. Many of those contracts already require support for training, and particularly apprenticeships. For example, in the estates strategy in the Department for Education, we expect, if I remember rightly, 8,000 additional training places to be provided as a result of the investment that we are putting into maintaining and rebuilding schools.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that, as well as looking at national infrastructure, it is important to get companies involved locally through organisations such as UTCs, as in Doncaster, where they have been very effective by not only having career guidance but putting on courses that are relevant to the local area? Combined with that, could more be done through local procurement, with local authorities, for example, requiring more apprentices to be employed?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend makes a really important point. It is why local skills improvement plans, of which the second round are due to be published quite soon, identify where there are local skills needs that need to be met locally, and why UTCs, as she identified, and the strong partnerships that construction and technical excellence colleges are developing between colleges and employers locally are really important ways of reflecting the local need for construction skills into the provision of training opportunities for young people.
Student Loans: Review
Debate between Baroness Winterton of Doncaster and Baroness Smith of Malvern(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
As a Government, we recognise and support the public subsidy that the student finance scheme implies for students. For plan 2 full-time borrowers who started their courses in 2022-23, for example, we expect that only 32% of them will repay their loans in full. This is therefore a public subsidy for those individuals and for realising the broader public benefits that higher education brings, not only for those who have the opportunity to go through it but for society more broadly.
Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Lab)
My Lords, I am glad to hear that my noble friend the Minister thinks that changes could be made to the system to make it fairer. However, does she agree that it is not sensible to think that there was a golden era when everybody went to university without worry? I went to university during a time when there were maintenance grants, but there was huge pressure in those times, particularly on people from lower incomes whose parents could not afford to put the top-ups in. We need to remember that when we consider the changes that need to be made. If she can make it fairer, that is good, but do not imagine that there was some previous time when everything was wonderful.
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend makes a very important point. I went to university without a student loan, but I was part of only 14% of young people who were able to benefit from higher education. That figure now stands at more than 50%, and we need a student finance system that recognises that. I reiterate that the Government are making changes to student finance. We will reintroduce student grants and we are increasing maintenance loans for students. We are therefore opening up the opportunity for more students from lower-income backgrounds to get the benefits that higher education brings.