Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

This Government made changes to the apprenticeship levy and have introduced the growth and skills levy to focus the apprenticeship system where it should be focused. Most Members across the House would agree that with the apprenticeship levy—now the growth and skills levy—we needed originally to create routes for those who were not able to go to university to achieve level 4 and above qualifications. That is where this Government are focusing our attention and we will not apologise for that, because those are the young people who are missing out on opportunities at the moment and need an apprenticeship system that is focused on them.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

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[Saqib Bhatti (Meriden and Solihull East) (Con)]

Apprenticeships should be the building blocks of a stronger economy. That is why the Conservatives are pledging to double the number. If the Minister has done his homework, he will know that any increase in apprenticeship numbers is due to the last-minute rush to do level 7, which this Government cancelled. In fact, if level 7 apprenticeships are stripped out of the figures, apprenticeship vacancies are at their lowest since 2020. With youth unemployment at an all-time high and apprenticeship vacancies at their lowest, it is time for the Minister to come clean: this Government are failing young people, are they not?

[Josh MacAlister]

The Conservatives’ new deal is funded by cutting opportunities in higher education. The Tory plan—[Interruption.] The Opposition Front Benchers’ proposal—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is a question to the Minister, not about what the Opposition might be doing.

[Josh MacAlister]

I apologise, Mr Speaker.

The proposals we have set out as a Government are all about expanding opportunities so that we get young people out of worklessness and into job opportunities. That is why we have set out a new deal for young people. To put it politely, the shadow Minister’s proposals borrow from a number of the features that we have set out in our plan. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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[Josh MacAlister]

We take this issue extremely seriously, but the description given by the right hon. and learned Member is of her own legacy in government as a Conservative politician. She is now a Reform politician. Nowhere in her question was an apology for the appalling track record of creating the plan 2 student loans system in the first place and administering it in a way that has led to the results that she describes.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Josh MacAlister]

The OfS system in place at the moment allows for students to complain about breaches of freedom of speech. The written statement laid this morning by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is all about expanding that coverage to staff, visiting lecturers and other speakers, as well as ensuring we have a system under which the OfS can go back to institutions and hold them to account.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

I hope the right hon. Member started by apologising to Sammi in his correspondence, because the last Government froze the threshold on 10 separate occasions. I could list them all. They started in the year that the policy was designed and introduced—the same year in which the commitment was made to increase the threshold in line with inflation, which the Conservatives did not do.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

[Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

Concerns raised in recent weeks about plan 2 student loans, including unilateral and unexpected change in the repayment terms and repayments based on the consumer prices index, are about the promise of higher education: whether working hard for an undergraduate degree really does result in a good quality of life when graduates face 30 years of student loan repayments on these terms. In the light of these escalating concerns, can the Minister tell the House what discussions he has had with the Treasury on this issue, and when we can expect to see the work that he promises to make plan 2 loans fairer for students?

[Josh MacAlister]

I know the Chair of the Education Committee is looking at these issues and the Government will be very interested in that work. We will set out the details of our work soon. My hon. Friend is right to highlight how transformational higher education can be. I would not want any young person outside this place who is listening to this debate to take away from it that they should not make every step forward to follow their talents. The Brit awards were just a few days ago and including some brilliant British talent, many of whom were on creative arts courses at university.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Monday 19th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

I thank the hon. Member for his leadership on these issues through the all-party parliamentary group on sixth form education, and for his local leadership as a constituency MP. I can reassure him that we will manage the transition carefully as these changes are introduced. We stand behind T-levels, which are a good option for many students, and we want to see the numbers increase. We have run a consultation which has now closed, and we are analysing the responses to ensure that all students experience a smooth transition.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)]

The hospitality industry is hugely important. Nothing has been decided on defunding apprenticeships yet. I recognise all my hon. Friend’s points, and we share her ambition that the apprenticeship system in the future is entirely designed around progression, as well as one-off learning.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. One of us is going to sit down, and it is not going to be me. Can I just try to help? I have a load of Members who all want to catch my eye. This is topicals, and we need short and punchy questions and answers. We will get a good example from the Minister.

[Josh MacAlister]

I compliment my hon. Friend’s local leadership in High Peak. To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, we are expanding foundation apprenticeships, launching a £140 million pilot with mayors to better connect young people with local apprenticeships, and fully funding small and medium-sized enterprises to deliver apprenticeships for eligible 16 to 24-year-olds.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Maybe they all go straight to university.

[Josh MacAlister]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. As somebody who was a teacher in Oldham, I know many of the institutions he is referring to, and I particularly know about the great work that is done by Oldham sixth-form college and the secondary schools in his constituency. We want to make sure that where we are spending significant sums on capital investment, which the Budget and the spending review allow us to do, it reflects the Government’s priorities around special educational needs and extra school places. We want to get that right, and we will provide an update very soon to my hon. Friend and others.

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[Josh MacAlister]

There is a very simple answer to that question: the last Government left us with crumbling school buildings and a limited capital budget to allocate across the entire school estate. We have to balance rebuilding crumbling school buildings—which, as the National Audit Office and others have highlighted, were in a deteriorated state—with the need to prioritise extra school places in parts of the country that need them. That is what the country expects from us.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Lauren Edwards (Rochester and Strood) (Lab)]

T3. I understand that the 1,000 careers advisers the Government committed to introduce will now sit within jobcentres. Will the Minister outline how the Department will work with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that improving careers advice in schools remains a priority? Reaching children in primary schools now is incredibly important for promoting the technical career routes that our economy will rely on in future.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. My noble Friend the Minister for Skills is working across both Departments to ensure that we bring the very important work on careers and early entry to work programmes together across the Government. I have myself seen great collaboration between both Departments in my own constituency. The Government are still committed to improving work experience for children in secondary schools and early careers education as well.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Monday 20th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Josh MacAlister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her advocacy for her constituents. This year, per-student funding is rising to £5,105—up from £4,843 last year. These decisions made across the further education system and for sixth-form colleges mean that institutions can make the best choices for their students, including, where appropriate, backing students to study the international baccalaureate.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Josh MacAlister]

In another part of my brief, I am already in touch with Ministers in devolved nations regarding children’s social care, and I would be very happy also to share wider learning from the school rebuilding programme.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Business of the House

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Josh MacAlister

Thursday 18th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Finally, I call Jim MacAlister.

[Josh MacAlister (Whitehaven and Workington) (Lab)]

Josh MacAlister, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

It’s Jim for today!

[Josh MacAlister]

As a new Member, I was going to start my very first question by congratulating you and saying that you are the best Speaker I have seen in the Chair.

I welcome my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) to her place as Leader of the House. A number of my constituents have been directly affected by the infected blood scandal. Between the publication of the independent inquiry’s final report and the Dissolution of the last Parliament, there was not sufficient time to have a full debate on the report’s findings. Will the Government give time in the coming months for a full debate on that topic?