Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Janet Daby(4 weeks ago)
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Janet Daby
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we continue to support and train adults, and many adults with seniority in their professions will continue to offer excellent support, mentoring, internship and guidance to younger apprentices. The change we have put in place will enable apprenticeship opportunities to be rebalanced towards younger people and will create more opportunities for those entering the labour market.
Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) (Con)
Ministers recently announced that they were axing level 7 apprenticeships. Strangely, they made the announcement during recess; and also strangely, it was only the day after the announcement that they finally answered my parliamentary question from April, revealing that they were making a 90% cut in those apprenticeships. This is blowing a huge hole in the NHS workforce plan, leading to a shortfall of 11,000 nurses. If Ministers will not listen to the many employers saying that this will make it much more difficult for people who are not so well-off to get into the professions, will they at least rule out cutting level 6 apprenticeships next?
Janet Daby
I can reassure the shadow Minister that level 6 apprenticeships are a core part of our offer, and we will continue to fund them. I also say politely to him that we will take no lessons from Liz Truss’s previous Health Minister; that Government left our NHS on its knees, and we are having to rebuild it from its foundations again.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I agree with my hon. Friend that it is time for a new direction for Scotland with Scottish Labour. In England, we are making over £1 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-29 to support young people into the industries of the future. That is because we are unlocking opportunity and driving growth through our plan for change.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Janet Daby(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Janet Daby
Too many young people have been locked out of accessing apprenticeship opportunities, and apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by almost 40% between 2015-16 and 2023-24 under the previous Government. We are developing new foundation apprenticeships to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Janet Daby(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Janet Daby
I reiterate that the one-off £50 million grant will enable colleges to respond to current priorities and challenges as they see fit, including workforce recruitment and retention. It is up to those colleges and sixth forms to choose how to use that funding to best meet learners’ needs. I invite the hon. Member to write in if he would like some further information.
Mr Speaker
Does the Minister wish to answer that question, because it is definitely not linked?
Janet Daby
I assure the hon. Member that the Secretary of State has had such conversations and will continue to do so.
Janet Daby
The Government have an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance and tough choices need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised to generate opportunities for all. Employers will still be able to offer and invest in level 7 apprenticeships where they feel they provide a good return on investment. We have taken advice from Skills England, which engages with employers on funding for level 7 apprenticeships, over the autumn. The Department expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships shortly.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Janet Daby(7 months ago)
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Janet Daby
I thank my hon. Friend for her thoughtful question. The Government are committed to ensuring that young people have access to appropriate education and career opportunities, but the focus must be on delivering provision that offers them the best learning experience and opportunities possible. In Knowsley, A-level provision has not been deemed viable owing to a lack of demand, but students there have access to high quality post-16 academic provision in surrounding boroughs.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Janet Daby(8 months, 1 week ago)
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Janet Daby
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.