Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) vocational training and (b) apprenticeship programs in Ashfield constituency.

This government is working to create a clear, flexible, high-quality skills system that supports people of all ages, breaking down the barriers to opportunity and driving economic growth.

The department has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly-trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade. It will ensure the skills system is clear and navigable for both young people and older adults, strengthening careers pathways into jobs across the economy.

The department’s levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at its heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers across England, including in Ashfield, and is aligned with our industrial strategy to create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.

Latest data provided by West Nottinghamshire College confirms a total of 1343 apprentices in learning. Of this, 522 apprentices are either living or employed in Ashfield District, which is around 39% of the total. The sectors with the most apprentices either living or are from Ashfield are Building and Construction (128), Engineering (118), Manufacturing Technologies (93) and Administration (59).

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s long term priority to drive local economic growth by reshaping the skills system to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs and to support learners to gain the skills needed to get good jobs. The LSIP covering Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which includes Ashfield, seeks to improve basic literacy and understanding of needs for learners and employees, digital skills as a key component of Technical Education courses, an increase in pre-16 engagement and skills development targeting young people, and basic employability skills that focus on for-work readiness.

West Nottinghamshire College is a large further education (FE) college based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, operating across nine centres and has specialist engineering and building services centres in Ashfield, with a construction skills training centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield. The college’s engineering training centre has been named as the UK’s first Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing in partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation.

The college has a well-established supported internship programme, which includes Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Capita and National Grid amongst its employer partners. The college’s high needs provision was recognised as outstanding by Ofsted in June 2023. Additionally, the college has embarked on a three-year programme to develop programmes further so that local employers, including in Ashfield, can benefit from a more diverse workforce.

The college has strong links with key public sector employers within Mansfield and Ashfield, including both district councils and the local hospital. The college’s principal is chair of the Making Mansfield Place Board and a member of the college’s executive leadership team is vice chair of the Discover Ashfield Place Board.

High-quality careers advice is an essential part of our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to drive economic growth. Our ambition is for everyone to have access to impartial careers information, advice and guidance throughout their lives. This will help open up more opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds to access the skills and training they need to succeed in the workplace and to advance their careers.