Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Wood and Anne Milton

Monday 11th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

T8. As my right hon. Friend knows, Dudley College has submitted an outstanding bid to be an institute of technology. Can she confirm that the IOT programme will go ahead as planned on published timetables?

[Anne Milton]

I am aware that Dudley College has progressed to stage two of the competition and we expect to announce the outcome shortly. As it is a competition, I obviously cannot comment on that. IOTs are a new kind of prestigious institution. It is important to note that they are not about new buildings, but collaborations between FE colleges, universities and leading employers to deliver the high-quality technical education we need.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Wood and Anne Milton

Thursday 20th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

I am very happy to meet the hon. Lady at any time because, as she rightly says, this is a vital area. We are spending £1.5 billion on adult education, some of which has been devolved to combined authorities and also delegated to London. It will be interesting to see how those different areas best use that money in education—in a way, they are like pilot schemes. I have also seen extremely innovative projects that work with women with children, and help them to help their children with school tests and such things, as a way of improving their own English. Those are often women who would not otherwise have come forward.

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

What are the Government doing to support women in their communities who are isolated as a result of poor English language skills?

[Anne Milton]

I have commented on the English language courses we are running, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also has a big programme. Integration is uppermost in our minds at the moment, and the first step towards integrating people and helping them to gain confidence is for them to have good English language skills.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Mike Wood and Anne Milton

Thursday 23rd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Anne Milton]

My apologies, Mr Speaker. I will, with your permission, group this question with question 4.

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

4. What steps the Government are taking to support women back into work when they have had time out of the workplace to look after children or other relatives.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anne Milton]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising what is actually a very important point. It should be remembered that 89% of people who take time off work for caring responsibilities are women. Closing the gender pay gap is extremely important. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that women earn 2% less on average for every year spent out of paid work, and the figure is even higher for highly paid women. We are talking to employers, evaluating all the programmes and gathering evidence of what works, and we hope to publish guidance on best practice for small and medium-sized employers next spring.

[Mike Wood]

Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what measures the Government are taking to help employers to support women who have taken career breaks to care for children or other relatives?

[Anne Milton]

The £5 million available for returns programmes will also be aimed at employers. We must understand that a complex set of reasons put people off returning to work, and the evidence that will be gathered will be important in ensuring that the best practice guidance published in spring gives a clear direction to employers, to ensure that they can harness the skills of those who take time off work.