Further Education Institutions

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for further education institutions.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Christopher. Up and down the country, further education institutions are educating and training 1.6 million people, providing them with the skills they need. These colleges are the lifeblood of the British economy, serving as a vital bridge between compulsory schooling and higher education and employment. However, further education was cut to the bone under the previous Conservative Government, and colleges are crying out for more support. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, spending on adult skills and apprenticeships was 23% lower in 2024-25 than it was back in 2009-10. That is a huge cause for concern.

Many of us in this room have seen the great work that these colleges do at first hand, and I am sure we will hear that from colleagues during the debate. I pay tribute to Shipley college in my constituency, and I hope to draw attention to some of the challenges that it and others face, as well as their tremendous contributions. Shipley college is the local lead on health training, and has built a strong relationship with Bradford Royal Infirmary. They have developed a T-level cadetship programme, giving local 16 to 17-year-olds invaluable experience on hospital wards.

I recently visited Shipley college and met students and staff who were training on life-like robots with AI-generated voices to mimic a conversation with a patient. That was clearly giving the students confidence, and preparing them much better than traditional teaching methods. Government funding has enabled the college to invest in such amazing resources as Gaumard human simulators, Anatomage tables for learning anatomy and physiology, and an immersive classroom where students get to prepare to deliver skills in a real-life situation.

I commend the hon. Lady, who has made a reputation for herself in the Chamber by asking all the questions. I understand this is her first Westminster Hall debate, and I congratulate her on it and wish her well. Last year there were almost 19,000 UCAS applicants who self-identified as young adult carers. That is around 4% of all applicants. I spoke to the hon. Lady before the debate; does she agree that more support must be offered in further education settings to those who have caring responsibilities—from caring for a parent or being a parent themselves—so they can achieve educational standards?

I agree that we must open up access to education for all, including carers. Further education colleges require significant investment to upgrade and maintain their buildings and ensure that they can provide a modern learning environment and access to up-to-date technology. However, staff tell me that their ambitions for further capital investment are limited. Since colleges were brought back into public ownership, their ability to borrow money and invest in capital projects has been removed, and they must now seek permission from the Department for Education to borrow money, which is a slow process. I would appreciate the Minister outlining what the Government are doing to address the capital funding needs of further education colleges.

I would like to move on to some issues around skills training. Every year, 3.8 million people aged 19 and over access skills education in England. That is a critical part of our education system, enabling people to build rewarding careers and fulfil their dreams. Yet, across the country, businesses do not have the right skills available to deliver the services they want and we need. According to the Learning and Work Institute, the UK could face a £120 billion loss by 2030, with a projected shortfall of 2.5 million highly skilled workers.

In Saltaire in my constituency, businesses tell me that they are struggling to recruit people with digital and tech skills locally. Is that any wonder when the Conservatives cut FE funding so significantly? With the right support, FE colleges can drive productivity gains across key sectors, such as engineering, healthcare, digital technology and construction. They can supply skilled technicians and specialists, enabling businesses to expand, innovate and compete.

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing the debate. Regional colleges such as the North West regional college and the Northern regional college in my constituency do exactly what the hon. Lady outlines. Particularly, the likes of apprenticeships are the future for many young people, especially those from disadvantaged communities. We should encourage and support that.

I entirely agree that the FE college apprenticeships—these other routes—are important for disadvantaged children. I will expand on that in a moment.

I am delighted that this Labour Government are committed to equipping the workforce with the skills they need to rebuild Britain, including through the establishment of Skills England. I hope that Skills England will encourage and facilitate strong partnerships between colleges and employers. Perhaps the Minister might like to say whether we could go further in empowering local areas and colleges to tailor their provision to local labour market needs and community demands.

Does my hon. Friend agree that Institutes of Technology can play a valuable role in setting forward the workforce, especially in defence, which the country needs, and will she join me in wishing Darran Marks the best in his next career endeavours?

I am certainly happy to commend the leader of my hon. Friend’s local IOT. I recognise the contribution that IOTs make to training the next generation in all sorts of careers; they prepare them for the demands of some highly skilled roles in defence.

FE colleges are not just about supporting our young people; they also give older adults opportunities to gain skills and retrain to access and retain good work. It will be vital, for example, to upskill and retrain people transitioning into jobs in the clean energy sector. I was disappointed to learn of the cuts to the adult skills fund, and a number of constituents wrote to me about it. I understand that the public purse is under huge strain and there are many competing demands, but further education colleges provide an excellent education, and given the real-terms funding reductions that they have experienced over two decades under the Conservatives, I do hope that in future they will receive more sustained, multi-year funding that accounts for inflation and rising student numbers.

Beaumont college in my constituency provides excellent specialist education for young people transitioning from a specialist school into adulthood. Does my hon. Friend believe that part of that funding must be available for colleges such as Beaumont so that we can support young people with special educational needs and disabilities?

Indeed, and I note that FE colleges, on average, have a higher number of SEND pupils than others. They give really good opportunities for children with additional needs to thrive and to go on and educate, so I commend the work of her local college.

I thank the hon. Lady for securing this important debate. One of the first things that I had to do after the general election was to ensure a funding guarantee of more than £20 million for a rebuild of Harrogate college. Due to the local authority dropping the ball, the planning expired and the funding period elapsed. I was grateful to work with the Labour Government to secure that funding. I do worry, though, about the £90,000 cut to Harrogate college’s adult skills funding. The response that I got from the Government said that that is now devolved to the Labour mayor. Does the hon. Lady agree that we need more funding for our devolved mayors to ensure that we keep up adult skills funding?

I am pleased to hear that the Labour Government have secured the future of Harrogate college. I also agree that it is vital that, as the workplace changes, people keep their skills up to date with lifelong learning, so it is essential that we protect and maintain adult education funding. I would like to hear from the Minister on that. Will she outline the Government’s plans to ensure sustainable funding for FE colleges, as well as the ongoing support for adult education as mentioned?

I thank my hon. Friend for this excellent debate. Does she agree that colleges like mine in Shrewsbury have achieved their “outstanding” status because of the breadth of training and qualifications that they offer across a wide rural area? Do the Minister and the Department need to recognise those twin challenges? One challenge is offering qualifications from supported internships right up to level 4 degree qualifications, and there is a massive rural challenge as well. Those twin challenges must be considered.

My hon. Friend is a great champion for her area and for rural communities. I agree that there are particular challenges for colleges seeking to deliver such a breadth of education and many different sorts of qualifications, and I know that the Government are looking at review and reform of that.

Let me turn to T-levels.

Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?

I want to make some progress. There have been recent innovations in further education with the introduction of T-levels. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I contributed to the inquiry that found that T-levels are a great option for many students, and it would be great to see them rolled out further, but that there are significant teething problems. T-level students attend three full days at college and, generally, two full days in placement. It is, in my view, far more demanding than three A-levels. However, finding suitable work placements can be challenging. While colleges welcome the greater flexibility that is given in where and how these requirements are fulfilled, there is a clear need for employers to be incentivised to offer such work placements to students.

Teacher shortages are also a huge problem for colleges, particularly when trying to attract people from the high-priority skill sectors that we have mentioned, such as digital and construction. The Public Accounts Committee also looked at teacher numbers and concluded that further education teacher shortages put the achievement of the Government’s missions for opportunity and growth at risk.