Student Loans

Damian Hinds Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)]

It is an honour to be the final Back-Bench speaker in this debate. I do not feel like I am at the back of the queue; I am just not at the front.

It is good to see some Liberal Democrats with us today. We know that student finance is a particularly important subject for debate in the Liberal Democrat party. In fairness, though, the Vince Cable plan, sometimes also known as plan 2, is not only about the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives were also in government at that time, in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. We shared responsibility. The whole thing was largely based on the Browne report, which had been commissioned by the previous Government under the other Brown, who somehow managed not to mention it during the course of the 2010 general election. To be fair, the existence of a real interest rate in both the Browne plan and the Cable plan was intended to make the system more progressive. None the less, it has become clear over time that that system needs to change. It has also become clear that, with all the pressures on young people and graduates at the present time, including unemployment, now is not the time to squeeze them further on the repayment threshold.

In the short time available, I will talk primarily about apprenticeships and degrees. In particular, I want to focus on the necessity of concentrating on quality apprenticeships.

[Dr Luke Evans]

Will my hon. Friend tell us more about the quality?

[Damian Hinds]

I will, but I will start by telling my hon. Friend about the lack of quality in some previous apprenticeships. I draw the House’s attention to the 2012 National Audit Office report on adult apprenticeships. I have time for only a couple of very short excerpts. The number of apprenticeships had increased dramatically in the three years up to 2012. The vast majority of apprentices were over 25. One in five apprenticeships lasted fewer than six months. Only one third of apprenticeships were at an advanced level, compared with something like 60% in France. In a separate study, there was the amazing discovery that, at that time, one in five apprentices—and this was to rise even further—did not even know that they were on an apprenticeship, so poor, thin and flaky were those courses.

So, yes, Madam Deputy Speaker, we reformed the system. First, in 2012 we introduced the minimum length of one year. We then had the substantial package of reforms in 2017 to make sure that there would be 20% of time off the job and to introduce the apprenticeship levy. It included the move from frameworks, which were sort of tick-box standards in many cases, to proper standards that would be designated and designed by employers and would have a proper end-point assessment to guarantee that that person had learned those occupational standards. And yes, of course the number of people on apprenticeships then fell.

The Government amendment says that they want to reverse the decline in apprenticeships under the previous Government. The reality is that the number of apprenticeships first grew like crazy under the previous Government as a result of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, and then it came back down following our reforms to make the apprenticeships higher quality and more exacting.

In 2010, the 280,000 figure was still lower than the 340,000 that we achieved in government. Now it looks like the Government are set on restarting that rollercoaster by reducing the standard of apprenticeships.

[Alistair Strathern]

I will not claim that the apprenticeship system that the previous Government inherited was perfect, but he is right that at its best it was about getting hard-to-reach young people into skilled jobs that they would not otherwise be able to reach. Countless young people and employers in my constituency, as well as the fantastic charity Amazing Apprenticeships, constantly cite standards as a barrier, not an enabler.

[Damian Hinds]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but we need quality apprenticeships. That is why I regret the fact that the independent Institute for Apprenticeships is being dissolved to be replaced by Skills England, which is not independent, does not have guaranteed business involvement in setting standards, and has now been moved from the DFE to the Department for Work and Pensions.

I regret that the Government are watering down end-point assessments, and I regret most of all that the new minimum length of an apprenticeship is eight months, down from 12 months. By the way, a 12-month apprenticeship is already short by international standards, and it is now being reduced even further to eight months. Try telling a German captain of industry that an apprenticeship can be done in eight months. There is nothing wrong with eight-month training courses, just do not call them apprenticeships. Call them something else so that we maintain the standard, brand and integrity of an apprenticeship.

The Government say, “We are doing all these things. We are reducing the standards and making it easier to access the cash and pass the course, and we believe that we may be able to grow the numbers.” I should actually apologise to Labour Members, because I think it insults their intelligence when they are given a piece of paper and asked to read something that says: “We believe that with our plan the number of apprenticeships will grow.” Of course it is going to grow—it could not fail to grow. The point is that it is not a like-for-like increase in the number of apprenticeships.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I know I am out of time. I had a load more to say—perhaps another day. Thank you for calling me.