Janet Daby
Main Page: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)Department Debates - View all Janet Daby's debates with the Department for Education
(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
Commons ChamberFurther education is vital in breaking down barriers to opportunity, driving growth and generating clean energy. The Budget allocated £300 million to support young people and improve skills development. In September, the Department launched a new phase of the “It all starts with skills” campaign to promote programmes such as apprenticeships and T-levels.
After 14 years of Tory decline, there is much to do in this country to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. A lot of people need jobs to help us achieve that. I am glad that the new Government are working to increase the number of students being trained in the industries of the future, but will the Minister tell us how she is working across Government to make sure that more young people can find those opportunities locally, rather than having to move away from their local communities?
Central to our opportunity mission is that where someone is from should not determine where they end up in life. This Government are serious about supporting young people. We are working across Government to ensure that young people are supported in their communities through devolution, local growth plans, local skills improvement plans and the youth guarantee.
The largest provider of vocational education and training opportunities in my constituency is Harrogate college, which was previously promised more than £20 million in a combination of loans and grants under the FE capital transformation fund. I have written repeatedly to the Government to ask if they can secure an extension to that funding period because, due to a hold-up in the planning process, it will not be able to meet the deadlines. Will the Minister commit to guaranteeing the funding for Harrogate college for that rebuild?
The hon. Member outlined many failings by the previous Government. I will ask my noble Friend the Minister for Skills to meet him.
This Government are about fixing the foundations. To help do this, we have launched an independent curriculum and assessment review, which aims to enable all young people to access rigorous and high-value qualifications and training. We will also introduce a youth guarantee, which will help 18 to 21-year-olds to access education, training and apprenticeship opportunities, and to receive employment support.
The London Design and Engineering university technical college in my constituency caters for 14 to 19-year-olds and offers at secondary level the kind of training often only found at further education level. Does the Minister agree that we need to create more opportunities at secondary level for skills-based training to ensure that it is embedded and lasts, post 16, into the workplace and that it improves employability skills as well?
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s thoughtful question. This Government absolutely value university technical colleges for helping young people to develop technical skills and, with employer support, to move into technical careers. The independent curriculum and assessment review aims to broaden the curriculum, ensuring that young people do not miss out on vocational subjects and that they leave education ready for employment.
Eastbourne, as the sunniest town in the UK, is on a mission to be a solar energy superpower. At the heart of that is East Sussex college’s green training hub, which is supporting students, young and mature, to move into that sector. Will the Minister join me in celebrating the hub’s second birthday, and will she come down to Eastbourne to visit the hub and its principal, Rebecca Conroy, and to soak up some Eastbourne sun?
The sun is obviously shining on Eastbourne, even though may not be shining everywhere else at the moment because of the weather. A visit to Eastbourne to celebrate the hub sounds delightful, but this falls to my noble Friend, Baroness Smith of Malvern, so I will pass on these comments to her.
The sun always shines on Chorley, Mr Speaker. One thing that helps young people to gain skills is involvement in the cadets, but the Department recently confirmed a decision to cancel support payments to combined cadet forces in state schools. That payment was something that people involved in the cadets and teachers really valued. What assessment was made beforehand of the impact that this cut would have? Will the Secretary of State reconsider it?
We respect all our young people who are in the cadets or any other armed forces areas. The hon. Gentleman raises this point, but after 14 years of the previous Government’s failure and the £22 billion black hole, there are difficult choices to be made. We are absolutely committed to children and young people and to doing the best we can do by them.
The Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunities for all young people, including young carers who provide a critical role in caring for their loved ones. We now collect specific absence data for young carers through the school census, and our statutory attendance guidance seeks to ensure that they receive holistic support to overcome barriers to attendance.
One thing that might be driving absences from schools for young carers is long-term mental health conditions. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says that as many as one in five young carers could be suffering from long-term mental health conditions. Can the Minister explain what measures the Department is taking to ensure that sufficient help is in place for people suffering from those conditions?
We want to ensure that we support young carers in school, as well as other children who may be suffering from mental health conditions. This Government are entirely committed to supporting young people with mental health conditions, and we are making sure that there will be mental health support in every school up and down the country. For young carers who may be experiencing increasing mental health conditions, we are expanding the attendance mentoring programme to ensure that around an extra 10,800 young carers are supported, especially in the area of mental health.
Foster carers provide some of the best care for children who are looked after. Some £4 million of new funding has been allocated for regional foster recruitment hubs, bringing the total amount of funding to £15 million. I am pleased to say that these hubs will generate hundreds of new foster placements.
The Department considers level 2 English and maths to be essential, so students without those qualifications are required to continue studying to achieve them. The independent curriculum and assessment review is looking at support for students without level 2 in English and Maths at the age of 16, and further information will follow shortly.
Carers Trust estimates that two children in every classroom across the UK are young carers, yet 72% of schools say that they have no young carers on their roll. What steps is the Department taking to address that?
We have recently required all schools to provide that data, so that we can find out where the young carers are and ensure that they gain the support that they need. Through the children’s framework, they can have an assessment alongside their parents. I am happy to speak further on this matter.
I welcomed the Budget last week, in which the Chancellor confirmed the recruitment of 6,500 teachers. Will the Secretary of State please confirm how those extra teachers, including specialist teachers, will be recruited, and how issues such as workload, working conditions and support for the training and development of new and existing teachers and school support staff will be addressed?