Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bill Esterson(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place. Schools and colleges will be compensated at a national level. I would, however, point out to him that when I became Secretary of State in July, I was presented with the teachers’ pay review body award of 5.5% that the last Government received, put in a drawer and then ran away from and called an election. We have backed our teachers, who are crucial to the life chances of our children. That is why I was delighted that we were able to honour that award and recognise the vital contribution our teachers make. That is how we will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers. If the Opposition refuse to back our commitments on VAT, they should set out how many teachers they intend to cut.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bill Esterson(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
Qualifications must deliver on our missions, enhancing and spreading opportunity, and growing our economy. The last Conservative Government botched the roll-out of T-levels and defunded them. That is why this Labour Government have announced a pause and review of qualifications reforms, to support skills growth and students, and to bring certainty where there has been chaos. This short, focused review, along with other measures, such as the curriculum assessment review and the creation of Skills England, will allow the Government to improve skills training, unlock opportunity and harness talent.
Bill Esterson
There are a great many opportunities for technicians and engineers, which will only increase with the Government’s plans for clean energy and their industrial strategy. However, we are currently short of intermediate and advanced-level skilled workers in this country, so will the Secretary of State tell us how her plans will ensure that more young people make the most of those opportunities, and how our education system will deliver the qualifications they need?
Bridget Phillipson
I know how passionate my hon. Friend is about ensuring that young people in Sefton and across our country are able to seize the new opportunities of the future. We are determined to drive forward and make Britain a clean energy superpower. Our reformed growth and skills levy will give businesses greater flexibility and enable them to take on more young apprentices. Skills England will allow us to identify the skills gaps in every corner of our country and ensure that we drive forward on that mission.
GP Recruitment and Retention
Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Bill Esterson(6 years, 8 months ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
The hon. Gentleman raises a fair point about patchiness, and I hope the Minister will be able to respond to it in his summing-up. There are big regional variations, and differences even within cities and towns, and we need to try to even out access to general practice. He raises an important point about routes into the profession and the barriers that they sometimes place in the way of those seeking to work in general practice, and I hope the Minister will say a bit more about what the Department will seek to do to take away some of those barriers.
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)
In my constituency, just yesterday, a practice in Hightown that had been earmarked for closure was saved at the eleventh hour thanks to a vigorous campaign by residents, the local authority and the parish council. Does the experience of Hightown, which is no doubt repeated elsewhere, not show that the damage done by the reorganisation of the NHS from 2010 onwards has caused real problems in GP services up and down the country, and that the Government need to get their act together and address the shortage of GPs for communities in all our constituencies?
Bridget Phillipson
I am happy to hear that my hon. Friend was successful in his campaign, but we are seeing closures and mergers of practices across the country, and we need a much broader solution. It should not fall only to local campaign groups or local NHS managers to try to put right some of the broader systemic problems in our health service.