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

Antonia Bance Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)]

I start with a fundamental point, which is that education does not always have to happen in a classroom. That is essentially what the Bill is about. Under the last Government, we saw a failure to tackle deep-rooted skills mismatches, a stubbornly high proportion of working-age people lacking essential skills and a severe shortage of higher technical training. As a result, our workforce struggled to meet the demands of a technology-driven economy, while employers faced persistent skills shortages.

This Bill is different. It abolishes the outdated Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and transfers its functions to Skills England. This is a monumental shift that creates a unified, agile and responsive skills system. Can the Minister assure us that the Bill will underpin what good government is about—listening to the needs of businesses, workers and learners; that it will allow more people, young and old, to earn while they learn and develop skills that will serve them well for life; and that by improving access to these opportunities up and down the country, we will drive growth, reduce youth unemployment and improve life chances for so many people?

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is eloquent in setting out the skills challenges of the Black Country. My constituency neighbours hers, and locally 40% of jobs need level 4 skills, but only 16% of people have those skills. That is the challenge we face locally. Does she agree that Skills England should be set up and based in an area of the country that desperately needs a skills upgrade, such as the Black Country?

[Mrs Brackenridge]

I absolutely welcome that intervention and support it wholeheartedly. Communities such as ours have felt and seen the decline, and the Government are laser focused on reversing that to unlock talent and opportunities, and to give our residents a better chance to get their futures back.

In the past few weeks I have been honoured to meet many impressive apprentices, from those at Wolverhampton Homes, who are ensuring that residents’ council housing is safe and well maintained, to Evie and Jake at Collins Aerospace, who are working on the future of flight and defence, as well as apprentices from Jaguar Land Rover, Halfords, BMW, Enterprise Mobility and Caterpillar. We have seen the consequences of a fragmented, outdated skills system, but with the Bill we now have a bold new direction that will empower workers, support businesses and drive economic growth across our country. The Bill will support apprenticeships now and into the future, and I urge the House to support it.