Education: Languages

Baroness Coussins Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Coussins]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the conclusion of the British Academy’s report Languages: The State of the Nation, published in February, that the United Kingdom will be unable to meet its aspirations for growth and global influence unless action is taken by them, businesses and in education to remedy the deficit in foreign language skills.

[Baroness Coussins]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and declare an interest as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, the Government welcome the report and are committed to the teaching of languages. The national curriculum, to be statutory from September 2014, includes a foreign language at key stage 2 for the first time. In higher education, we have supported the continued availability of language study through HEFCE’s strategically important and vulnerable subject funding. There is an increase in the number of students opting to study abroad. We will reflect on the report’s recommendations to ensure that we are doing all that we can to support growth.

[Baroness Coussins]

That is a positive reply, but I am not sure that it is quite enough to deal with the perhaps surprising finding of this report, which is the need for language skills at all levels of the labour market, not just for an internationally mobile elite. In 2011, 27% of admin and clerical vacancies went unfilled because of a lack of foreign language skills. Can the Minister say how the Government can work with employers to encourage them to be more proactive in managing their language needs for the sake of their own competitiveness, and for the employability of UK citizens?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My reading of the figures from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills survey is that it reports a lack of skills in admin and clerical roles, but not quite to the extent that the noble Baroness has indicated. We share the concern about skills at all levels, from professional fluency right through to a basic knowledge of language, which can make a welcoming introduction to somebody coming in and can be a valuable ice-breaker.

In response to the Wilson review, the Government have announced set-up funding for the establishment of a national centre for universities and business. That will cover all aspects of HE business collaboration, which will of course include languages.