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

Dan Aldridge Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 25th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

The Bill constitutes a significant step towards streamlining and strengthening our technical education and apprenticeship system, and, as someone who worked in the apprenticeships sector in different roles, I am a big fan. So many of us have seen at first hand how apprenticeships transform lives—how they build dignity in young people’s work, and help them to establish fulfilling careers. Joy at all this unlocked potential has, however, been continually frustrated by the decline in apprenticeships that we have seen over the past decade. This decline must be reversed, and that, surely, is an aim that can unite the House. It is what this Bill is about: delivering the step change in skills that we so desperately need if we are to rebuild our communities and our country.

My constituents must be able to earn, learn and thrive because of what we do in this place, not in spite of it. In towns such as Weston-super-Mare and Worle, technical education and apprenticeships are fundamental to enterprise, prosperity and economic independence for our young people. Sadly, however, towns like mine have never been able to take full advantage of those benefits, because of red tape and because of the hoops that providers and small and medium-sized enterprises have had to jump through. For too long we have seen a fragmented technical education system plagued by that red tape and by inefficiencies.

Given the huge responsibility and expectation on this Government to deliver significantly improved life chances for communities, we must break down barriers and blocks to progress everywhere, and we must be bold in the way in which we restructure the state to make it deliver. Our employers, our training providers and, most important, our apprentices deserve a system that is responsive, transparent, and aligned with the needs of our economy and our society. The young people of Weston-super-Mare are bursting with potential and ambition, but they have often been let down by needless bureaucracy and a lack of the right opportunities and resources—and the right information, advice and guidance—to enable them to develop the skills that are needed by today’s employers. Communities like mine have been left behind by successive skills strategies that have overlooked the nuances in our local economies, especially when it comes to supporting the needs of the SMEs that provide the overwhelming majority of private sector employment in towns such as mine—whether we are talking about Weston-super-Mare association football club, the Ascot Group or our beloved grand pier.

This Bill removes bureaucracy, and will make the system work better. It allows the Secretary of State to act swiftly when necessary, to respond to industry’s needs and to deliver the flexibility that is crucial in a job market where skills requirements are constantly evolving and moving on at an unprecedented pace. If we are serious about providing high-quality technical education, closing the skills gap and developing our workforce, we must structure our institutions to achieve those goals. We must also ensure that towns up and down the country that sit outside cities and, currently, outside combined authority areas—such as Weston-super-Mare—are fully considered, are not left behind in any reforms of skills and apprenticeships, and have a seat at the table when it comes to skills and growth plans. The Bill is a huge step in the right direction, and I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the House to support it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Aldridge Excerpts

Monday 9th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

3. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Students.

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

23. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Office for Students.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

For too long, universities have been treated as political battlegrounds. This Labour Government will treat them as engines of opportunity and growth. On 26 July, I published the report of the independent review of the Office for Students and appointed Sir David Behan, who led the review, as the interim chair. Under new leadership and with a sharpened remit, the Office for Students will concentrate on securing the future of universities and putting students first.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dan Aldridge]

Young people in Weston-super-Mare and across our country deserve the very best opportunities. Since 2016, University Centre Weston has transformed access to higher education in our town, meaning that more can study closer to home, improving access. How will the Labour Government seek to strengthen the strategic objective of the Office for Students to widen participation in communities such as mine?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of widening participation, and he sets out clearly how universities are a key part of towns and cities right across our country. The last Government wanted to use our world-leading sector as a political football, talking down institutions and watching on as the situation became even more desperate. I have appointed the new interim chair to sharpen the focus of the Office for Students, focus far more on the financial sustainability of the sector, and return universities to being the engines of growth and opportunity that we want to see after 14 wasted years.