Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mike Thornton and Matt Hancock(10 years, 8 months ago)
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Matthew Hancock
These apprentices clearly had an interesting time, because they met not only the hon. Lady, but the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon)—and indeed, I also met them. They were extremely impressive, and showing the highlights of the best apprentices is something we should all celebrate across this House.
Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)
Figures released this week show that every time a local company hires an apprentice their bottom line gets an average boost of £2,100. In Eastleigh, that means that new apprenticeships alone provided a local boost of more than £2 million in 2012-13. Will the Minister join me in praising local businesses in Eastleigh, such as GE Aviation and Arlington Rail, which have a great track record in delivering high-quality apprenticeships? Will he also join me in praising the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Gordon Birtwistle), who is leading the charge on this?
Matthew Hancock
Yes, of course I will join my hon. Friend. I also join him in paying tribute to my hon. Friends the Member for Burnley and for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), who are apprenticeship ambassadors and do enormous work, in this House and beyond, to promote apprenticeships.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Mike Thornton and Matt Hancock(10 years, 9 months ago)
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Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)
T7. The 17.5% cuts in spending for 18-plus learning announced last year by the Education Funding Agency, the changes in the 16-to-19 funding formula and the unfair treatment of sixth-form colleges compared with schools regarding VAT have put sixth-form colleges under serious strain, with cuts to courses and staff. Will the Minister, or even the Secretary of State, meet me and the principal of the excellent Barton Peveril college in Eastleigh to discuss the impact of these cuts?
The Minister for Skills and Enterprise (Matthew Hancock)
I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and the principal of his local sixth-form college to discuss how to make sure that in these tight spending times, which we all know exist, sixth-form colleges can maximise the flexibilities at their command in order to continue the excellent education that most deliver.