Skills: Importance for the UK Economy and Quality of Life

Lord Mountevans Excerpts

Thursday 9th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mountevans (CB)]

My Lords, I add my congratulations to my noble friend Lord Aberdare on securing this very important debate. He has undoubtedly touched a particular vein here in the House, with tremendous engagement from all participants. I also congratulate the noble Lords, Lord Marks of Hale and Lord Elliott of Mickle Fell, on their excellent maiden speeches.

The much-vaunted UK knowledge economy masks an inherent imbalance with, and under-celebration of, our skills economy. “Education, education, education” has enabled our universities to blossom—perhaps at the expense of our colleges. For several decades, we have hollowed out and failed to invest adequately in our skills infrastructure. This has been further compounded by the aspiration for a degree, with all the supposed hierarchical status it promises.

It is regrettable that it has taken significant skills gaps and chronic skills shortages to deliver the wake-up call to UK plc of the pivotal importance of skills. We must go well beyond the virtue signalling of apprenticeships. Government policy has placed great importance on front-skilling the school pupils while neglecting their older siblings’ and parents’ needs for upskilling and reskilling. We are failing to value and appropriately fund the technical skills, the digital skills, the future skills, the green skills—as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman—and even skills foresighting. At the centre of everything, we need bold leadership and sustained political attention, kept honest by a strong voice from industry and a joint commitment to long-term investment.

I will speak on apprenticeships, on the colleges on which we rely for so much of skills training and, finally, if time permits, on the experience in my own maritime industry. Apprenticeships are a vital part of investing in individuals to deliver better skills outcomes for the wider economy. My understanding is that over 250,000 apprenticeships are commenced per year. This is not enough and, as we have heard, it does not adequately address the vital SME need. Figures from the OBR indicate that receipts by government for the apprenticeship levy will reach close to £4 billion in 2024-25, while the apprenticeship budget stands at £2.7 billion. Is the balance going to a good end in training or education?

We know there has been a significant increase in the number of young NEETs. Something must be done for this group. Yet apprenticeships remain the only part of the education sector where 16 to 18 year-olds are not fully funded by the state. Can this be addressed in any way? There needs to be a joined-up approach to apprenticeship across government, with direct ministerial oversight.

Now I turn to colleges, on which we depend so heavily for training away from work. For the colleges, this is a particularly challenging time. We rely on them to tackle the chronic and acute skills shortages, particularly among struggling SMEs and those sectors blighted by Brexit and the pandemic. If I may paraphrase the words of a friend, Dr Paul Little, principal of the renowned Glasgow College, I fear we are sleepwalking into a vocationally light future with an underpowered skills system and an underinvested skills infrastructure.

On the maritime experience, we are in fact very fortunate with the training options in maritime. We have heard a lot of quite depressing statistics one way and another today, and areas of great concern, but I think this is a success story, and credit goes to the Government for that. A number of universities are offering excellent degree courses and some professional organisations are offering specific professional qualifications in significant shore-based specialisations such as law, insurance and ship-broking.

There is time to concentrate only on seafarer training. We are indeed fortunate that seafarer training has operated essentially on a global basis through the supranational regulator, the International Maritime Organization, which is based across and up the river, and the UK’s national Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Our UK maritime sector is blessed in having a close tripartite relationship between the ship owners, the educators and workforce representatives, convened for almost a century by the UK Merchant Navy Training Board. This is borne out of inherent concern for seafarers’ safety, both coastal and deep sea, placing a higher value on competency and proficiency than on merely gaining a qualification.

I should add that the SMarT funding arrangement has been a great success for the training of seafarers, with 50% of the cost paid by government. This scheme supports seafarers’ training while ensuring a flow of very well-qualified seafarers—when they come ashore—into the maritime professional services, where Britain is the global industry leader. We are also fortunate in having a Maritime Skills Commission and blessed to have four seafarer education and training colleges, located in Glasgow, Warsash in Southampton, South Tyneside and Lowestoft. The skills and training acquired in these colleges are still recognised as the gold standard for maritime skills worldwide, and long may this last.

The noble Baroness, Lady Garden, noted the strong contribution of the City of London Corporation, City & Guilds and the livery companies to education and training. It is interesting that the noble Baroness, Lady Fairhead, is a fellow liveryman of the Goldsmiths’ Company, which makes an outstanding contribution to education and training. When I was elected to the City of London Corporation, I served on a number of school boards. I quickly realised that one area of great importance is aspiration. The City’s colleges and schools have succeeded in imbuing and developing aspiration in staff and students. I do not believe that any of us has mentioned aspiration, but it is vital for teachers and their students alike. I could wish to associate myself with very many speakers, but I do so with what the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, said about the value of foreign language teaching.

Higher Education

Lord Mountevans Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mountevans (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, for this debate and congratulate him on his excellent introductory speech. In seeking to avoid what has already been said, I will focus on the important role the UK’s higher education sector plays in enhancing the UK’s business credibility and attractiveness to foreign businesses and investors, which is so very important. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Chapman, I intend to base myself on an area I know very well, so I am taking the City of London as a case study.

A recent City of London Corporation report shows that London and the UK ranks highest amongst international financial services centres in the access to talent and skills provided for companies. However, this should not be seen solely in terms of business, law or economics graduates. The wider contribution provided by the higher education sector is essential to maintaining the UK’s status as a place to do business.

The square mile, the heart of the UK’s largest business sector, financial and professional business services, is perhaps not well known as a location for higher education, unlike other parts of London such as Bloomsbury. However, in the wider area there are 70 universities and 130 research institutes. Many of these are business skills focused, such as City, University of London’s Bayes Business School, which is, inter alia, home to the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance. It offers, if I may mention a slightly specific personal involvement for a moment, in my view the world’s best master’s in shipping, trade and finance, and an excellent master’s in energy, trade and finance. The courses are heavily subscribed by the brightest and best internationally, but sadly with few UK students taking advantage.

The City is blessed with a world class conservatoire, in the form of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as the first institute of higher education in London, Gresham College. Gresham College is arguably one of the first iterations in Britain of levelling up, providing free public education across the arts and sciences since 1597. Gresham’s executors founded the college to bring the “new learning” to Londoners in English rather than Latin, the language of universities over most of Europe at that time. It was the first institute of higher education in London. The college adds immeasurably to the intellectual life of the square mile, enhancing it as a place to do business. Gresham was a trailblazer in promoting public education, being one of the first higher education establishments outside the ancient universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The college continues to trailblaze: since 2001, all Gresham College lectures have been made available online, and since 2007 they have been uploaded to YouTube, once again increasing public access to education and pre-empting the Covid development of online streaming of events. Lectures are free and open to all.

Similarly, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama enhances wider London’s attractiveness as a business destination. As well as providing world-famous actors and musicians, its production arts department provides the West End and the world with experts in theatre crafts such a prop making, set design and stage lighting, which feeds our creative industries. The school is ranked number one in arts, drama and music by the Complete University Guide 2024, and as one of the top 10 performing arts institutions in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

For international companies thinking about where to base their European office, London’s cultural offer is an important consideration. However, as we have heard, the sector faces challenges. The graduate visa route is an important draw for international students to the UK; however, removal of this route could imperil the attractiveness of courses such as the Guildhall’s music therapy MA. Graduates looking to use their skills in hospitals, SEN schools and care homes would struggle to secure a skilled-worker visa due to their work being based on multiple part-time contracts, making it extremely difficult for them to meet the financial threshold.

The current Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, has sought to show the links between business and higher education through his theme of “Connect to Prosper” and the appointment of the first Lord Mayor’s Fellow at City University, where he is rector. I would encourage the Minister and business community to give greater recognition to the core role that the higher education sector plays in making the UK an attractive business destination.

In conclusion, I have a few words on professional qualifications and training—we have not spoken very much about this, other than in terms of apprenticeships. There are many chartered institutes, such as chartered accountants, ship brokers, et cetera, setting courses and examinations for specialists in London, across the UK and indeed around the globe. These professional bodies contribute immeasurably to professionalism and, importantly, business ethics.

The current Lord Mayor has collaborated with CISI on the 695th Lord Mayor’s ethical AI initiative, introducing a certificate in artificial intelligence. This has been taken up phenomenally across the world. It is hoped that other professional bodies will introduce related certificate courses.