Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Thursday 20th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

6. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that further education colleges provide a modern learning environment.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that further education colleges provide a modern learning environment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills (Matthew Hancock)]

The autumn statement released £270 million more in funding to upgrade further education colleges, and I can today announce that details of the college capital fund are being published by the Skills Funding Agency. These new funds take to over £1 billion investment in college capital in this Parliament, because the Government believe in helping everybody to reach their potential.

[Matthew Hancock]

The right hon. Gentleman and I had an extremely productive meeting with stakeholders on the future of Lewisham college, which is soon, as he says, to change its name, and I hope that a resolution can be brought that satisfies all parties.

[Duncan Hames]

Wiltshire college’s Chippenham campus missed out on a £36 million rebuild during the fiasco that was the Learning and Skills Council’s capital programme under the previous Government. The college now has more focused plans to build an engineering facility at the Chippenham campus. Will the Minister ensure that college campuses that missed out while the sun shone get more than their roofs fixed this winter?

[Matthew Hancock]

Wiltshire college has already undertaken building works up to the value of £6 million, including through the third stage of the capital grants that were released this September. However, I hear very clearly the hon. Gentleman’s call for work at the Chippenham campus, and I look forward to receiving his submission. As I say, the details of the investment fund have been published today, so work can proceed apace.