Skills for Jobs White Paper

Karin Smyth Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is so important that our colleges are at the forefront of ensuring that we have the skills needed for the new technologies and new emerging markets, which will be so demanding for skills, whether that is in green energy, digital or cyber-security. Colleges can play a pivotal role in providing those skills swiftly and quickly for the market needs.

[Karin Smyth (Bristol South) (Lab) [V]]

Part of the problem is that too few leaders have personal experience, understanding or, indeed, respect for the work of further education settings. City of Bristol College can, and it is ready to support economic development and pandemic recovery, but it needs secure funding, nationally and locally, now. Will the Secretary of State direct local businesses, and particularly the West of England Combined Authority, to put the college front and centre of their planning, particularly for skills levels 2 and 3?

[Gavin Williamson]

We certainly hope that right across the country, and not just in Bristol, everyone sees colleges as a vital lever in delivering economic growth through delivering skills.