Oral Answers to Questions

Ruth Cadbury Excerpts

Monday 4th February 2019 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

1. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding priorities for post-16 education in the forthcoming spending review.

[The Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills (Anne Milton)]

The Department works closely with Her Majesty’s Treasury on the challenges that the further education sector faces. We are currently considering the efficiency and resilience of the sector and assessing how far current funding and regulatory structures enable high-quality provision.

[Ruth Cadbury]

We know that the Government want to bring in T-levels, but the funding for that is almost immediately offset by the ongoing £3.3 billion real-terms cuts for our colleges and further education. Will the Minister’s review include addressing the 38% cut in construction skills training and the 68% cut in engineering courses that have been experienced recently?

[Anne Milton]

The hon. Lady is right that T-levels will bring in an extra £500 million a year when fully rolled out. I know the Construction Industry Training Board is putting a substantial amount of money into improving skills in that industry.