Education

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 25th March 2024 Ministerial Corrections

[Mr Perkins]

…The Minister talks powerfully about apprenticeships, but why does he think that young people are now half as likely to be on an SME apprenticeship than they were when the levy was introduced?

[Robert Halfon]

I hugely respect the hon. Gentleman. I know he is a bruiser, but I had been looking forward to his question. I thought he would celebrate the 13,000 apprentices in Chesterfield since May 2010, the 11,270 apprentices at levels 2 and 3, or the £19.5 million investment in Chesterfield College.

[Official Report, 11 March 2024, Vol. 747, c. 10.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon):

An error has been identified in the response given to the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins).

The correct response is:

[Robert Halfon]

I hugely respect the hon. Gentleman. I know he is a bruiser, but I had been looking forward to his question. I thought he would celebrate the 13,000 apprentices in Chesterfield since May 2010, the 11,720 apprentices at levels 2 and 3, or the £19.5 million investment in Chesterfield College.

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is not just that level 2 and 3 apprenticeship starts have plummeted by over 50% since the levy was introduced, but that 16 to 18-year-old apprenticeship starts are down by 41%. Research by the Sutton Trust and the London School of Economics further shows that, by 2020, the proportion of apprenticeship starts by those from poorer backgrounds had dropped significantly. Opportunities for all our young people to earn and learn expanded every year under Labour. Is it not now painfully clear that the biggest barrier to opportunity is this Tory Government?

[Robert Halfon]

As always, Labour Front Benchers are obsessed with quantity over quality. We have transformed the quality of apprenticeships. Seventy per cent of occupations are covered by over 680 apprenticeship standards.

[Official Report, 11 March 2024, Vol. 747, c. 11.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon):

An error has been identified in the response given to the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra).

The correct response is:

[Robert Halfon]

As always, Labour Front Benchers are obsessed with quantity over quality. We have transformed the quality of apprenticeships. Nearly 70% of occupations are covered by apprenticeships, and there are over 680 apprenticeship standards.

[Jane Hunt]

Homefield College, based in Mountsorrel and Sileby in my constituency, is a community-based independent specialist college that offers education, training and independent living skills for people with learning disabilities and communication difficulties. What steps are being taken by the Department to promote and support such excellent FE colleges, and to help create opportunities for work experience, life skills and development for students, so that they may go on to live happy and fulfilling lives as an integral part of their local community?

[Robert Halfon]

I was pleased to visit Loughborough not so long ago with my hon. Friend. She is passionate about FE and skills. I know Homefield College well; it is a brilliant college and I am glad it was recently allocated £95,000 for capital spend. We have the £80 million supported internship scheme for those with special educational needs; an FE bursary scheme for special needs teachers; specialist National Careers Service advice for young people; and the SEND code of practice to prepare young people for adulthood.

[Official Report, 11 March 2024, Vol. 747, c. 15.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon):

An error has been identified in the response given to my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Jane Hunt).

The correct response is:

[Robert Halfon]

I was pleased to visit Loughborough not so long ago with my hon. Friend. She is passionate about FE and skills. I know Homefield College well; it is a brilliant college and I am glad it was recently allocated £95,000 for capital spend. We have the £80 million supported internship scheme for those with special educational needs; an FE bursary scheme for special needs teachers; National Careers Service advice for young people; and the SEND code of practice to prepare young people for adulthood.

[Sir Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con)]

At Cambridge University, a barbaric vandal wearing a £1,000 Mulberry backpack was so full of hate for Jews that she felt Lord Balfour’s letter of 1917 gave her the moral superiority to destroy a valuable and historic painting of him. This shines a light on the pernicious atmosphere faced by Jewish students at universities across the country, with calls for “Zionists off our campus” now shamefully normalised, and “Zionists” really meaning Jews. What steps does my right hon. Friend propose to take to convey to university heads that they have a legal and a moral obligation to stamp out antisemitism?

[Robert Halfon]

…We have announced a £7 million package to give to Jewish student groups, including the University Jewish Chaplaincy, to try to stop antisemitism on campus.

[Official Report, 11 March 2024, Vol. 747, c. 22.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, the right hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon):

An error has been identified in the response given to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Sir Michael Ellis).

The correct response is:

[Robert Halfon]

…We have announced a £7 million package to give to student groups, such as the University Jewish Chaplaincy, to try to stop antisemitism on campus.