Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords]

Alison Hume Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the Bill. It clearly demonstrates the Government’s ambitious commitment to training and apprenticeships. I will concentrate on the role that Skills England will play in aligning apprenticeship opportunities with the needs of local economies.

Scarborough and Whitby are beautiful places to live and to visit, but the levels of low-paid employment are not so appealing. According to the latest ONS figures, 26% of all jobs in my constituency were paid below the real living wage. On closer examination, the figures are even more alarming. For example, some 52% of part-time jobs done by women in my constituency were paid below the real living wage, while that figure for England was 32% and for Yorkshire and Humber it was 35%. The disparity between the figures for Scarborough and Whitby and the surrounding region should give us pause when we refer to local economies, because coastal communities can differ markedly from their hinterland.

Skills England’s work in assessing local needs and opportunities must anticipate what those needs and opportunities may be in future, as well as now. Well-paid jobs and careers are the goal for young people in my constituency. It is a crucial time for the green transition that we need to reach net zero and to create the urgently needed skilled jobs in the renewables sector. Scarborough is one of closest harbours to the offshore wind farm sites in the North sea, especially Hornsea Four, making it a prime location for the transportation of equipment and personnel, as well as for service vessels.

The Government rightly see the potential of the creative industries to create growth, but we know that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or those who do not live in metropolitan areas are often denied such opportunities. In the past year, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough has created two full-time trainee posts, with partners at Coventry University. It will deliver a degree course in acting and has a programme for young people pursuing a career in the performing arts. I want us to build on that to provide far more opportunities for talented young people in Scarborough and Whitby to train locally in the creative industries, especially to bridge the skills gap in practical trades, such as lighting, sound and camera operation.

As in so many areas, construction trainees are urgently needed now, and will be in the future. I am excited by the Government’s support for a new development planned south of Scarborough, in Cayton, that will start as soon as possible and provide 2,500 new homes. The people building those homes and that infrastructure should be trained locally as far as possible.

I am pleased to tell the House that the construction skills village in Scarborough is already doing an incredible job of providing training for construction apprentices. It currently has 140 apprentices on its books, providing training in plastering, carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work. It has also just run its first solar panel installation course. Some 60% of its learners come from an area that is among the most deprived in the country, and a high number have additional educational needs, yet the record of its apprentices exceeds national outcomes. I ask the Minister to confirm that existing centres of excellence can be funded to provide more of what they already do so well.

In conclusion, I look forward to a future in which organisations such as the construction skills village are part of the Government’s plan to boost apprenticeships and build a better kind of local economy.

Breakfast Clubs: Early Adopters

Alison Hume Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

We will provide the opportunities that my hon. Friend outlines to ensure that schools work with one another to develop best practice, to learn from what works in similar settings, and to make sure that breakfast clubs in those schools are as effective and accessible as they can be. We know that breakfast clubs make a really big difference to children and their life chances, and I am delighted that the Government have been able to move so rapidly in starting the roll-out across our country.

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

It is shameful that after the last Labour Government lifted 1.1 million children out of poverty, years of neglect by Conservative Governments saw an increasing number of children going to school hungry, which limits their learning and life chances. I warmly welcome the announcement that four schools in my constituency will be able to offer a free breakfast club from April: Ruswarp and Fylingdales, as well as St Peter’s and St George’s over in Scarborough. Does my right hon. Friend agree that these breakfast clubs show how this Government are not only supporting working parents, but delivering on our promise to tackle child poverty?

[Bridget Phillipson]

Opposition Members never like to have it pointed out to them that on their watch we saw rising levels of child poverty in our country, which have scarred the life chances of a generation and have left families struggling. As a Labour Government, we are determined to make a difference and to ensure that background is no barrier to getting on in life. I am grateful that my hon. Friend is such a champion for her constituents in making sure that where people are from does not determine everything they can go on to achieve. The fact that we are delivering on our commitments, not even eight months into this Labour Government, demonstrates the difference that voting Labour makes.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Alison Hume Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the Bill and the Secretary of State’s commitment to tackling the SEND crisis in our schools—a crisis that developed over more than a decade of neglect, and which will not be resolved overnight. The Bill’s proposal to introduce a duty for local authorities to keep a register of children who are not in school is causing concern among families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities in my constituency. The concern is based not on the Bill but on the battles that parents find themselves fighting in order to ensure that their child’s needs are met.

As a survivor of the SEND jungle, I understand the state of perpetual worry that families live with, and I understand that they are fearful that the introduction of a register may result in increased pressure from the local authority for their child to attend school without the support they need. Last year saw a 40% increase in the number of requests for education, health and care plans in Scarborough and Whitby from the previous year, and almost 30% of decisions on EHCPs took six months or longer, leaving children without the support they needed while waiting. If a child does receive an EHCP, parents often feel that the provision offered does not correspond to their needs as there is a shortage of key professionals and funding is often pooled rather than used for the one-to-one support that they really need.

In my experience, parents do not take the decision to withdraw their child from school lightly. One constituent has faced fines for her son’s non-attendance that she cannot afford to pay and problems at work because he is at home. Another constituent, Karen, who runs the marvellous charity Closer Communities in Scarborough, which supports families in this situation, has struggled to get appropriate support for her own son. Karen, who was a senior manager in the NHS, was forced to put her own career on hold, which inevitably had financial implications for her family.

Withdrawing a child from school is not easy and can have a major impact on a family. Most would prefer for their child to be educated in a mainstream school, where they get the support they need. I am proud that the Government are working hard to ensure that that happens in the future with more targeted mainstream provision. I hope that the Secretary of State can reassure parents like those I have described that they have nothing to fear from the legislation. Will she consider whether the register could be used to distinguish between parents who home-school by choice and those who do so because they have no choice?