Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the amount of funding available for technical education is aligned with the skills requirements for key industries.

Over £7.5 billion of funding for the 16 to 19 programme is being invested during the 2024/25 academic year, with funding available via the High Value Courses Premium to encourage and support the delivery of level 3 study programmes and T Levels in priority subject areas.

Programme cost weightings support the delivery of higher cost vocational subject areas, which are often also areas of high value to the economy.

Additionally, the department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year and will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding to make decisions that are best for their areas. In non-devolved areas, the department uses five funding bands that reflect, amongst other considerations, the cost of the provision involved and skills needs.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also committed over £600 million over the Parliament to deliver up to 60,000 skilled construction workers, supporting the government’s infrastructure and housebuilding priorities. This includes additional funding to deliver more construction courses, skills bootcamps, foundation apprenticeships, industry placements and the establishment of ten new Technical Excellence Colleges.