Question
Asked By
To ask Her Majesty’s Government following Sir Andrew Foster’s recent report and given their aspiration to accelerate infrastructure investment, when the further education college building programme will resume.
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare an interest as chief executive of London First, a not-for-profit organisation that includes further education colleges in its membership.
My Lords, Sir Andrew Foster’s key finding was that a “good policy” had been,
“compromised by the manner of its implementation”.
We have fully accepted all of his recommendations, including the need to,
“agree how the present demand-led approach to the programme is replaced by a needs-based approach with explicit priorities and choice criteria”.
The LSC is now consulting the sector on the approach that should be used in prioritising schemes. This work will be taken forward urgently in order to bring clarity on the position as soon as possible.
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. I wonder whether he can give me a date for when the first project might resume.
My Lords, occasionally I have a bout of prescience, but not that much. I regret that I cannot. The LSC is now consulting the sector on the approach that should be used to prioritise schemes, and it has established a reference panel of college principals to help meet Sir Andrew’s recommendation to develop a needs-based approach. From our point of view, we want this to go forward as soon as possible; we know that a lot of colleges are eagerly awaiting the outcome.
My Lords, does the delay in capital spending not run totally counter to the Keynesian statements that the Government have made with regard to the recession? Is it not essential that these capital projects should proceed as soon as possible, if we are to have the trained and skilled people who we are told will be necessary for the future?
I agree, my Lords, but, to put this in perspective, between 1997-98 and 2006-07 more than £2 billion was invested in modernising FE facilities. My department will spend another £2.3 billion in the current spending review period, and we have brought forward £110 million in 2008-09 within that spending review period as part of our response to boost the economy. This relates back to the point that we need to get the programme going again, but yes, I agree with the noble Lord.
My Lords, is this not an example of a real confusion on the part of the Government and the Learning and Skills Council? The noble Lord mentioned a figure of £2 billion. I am told that the figure for London—for schemes held in abeyance and for which promises have been given—amounts to more than £1 billion. Why is it, in these circumstances, that the only people who ever resign are the officials in charge and nobody from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills?
My Lords, if we felt that there was ministerial blame in the circumstances, perhaps that remedy would have been considered.
Do I detect a certain scepticism, my Lords? I am shocked. To treat this seriously—as we do, because of the repercussions—the deficiencies were recognised by the LSC. That is why the chief executive, Mark Haysom, resigned on 23 March. As Sir Andrew Foster pointed out, the FE capital programme is a good policy that has delivered benefits for countless students, but it has been compromised by the manner of its implementation. That is unfortunately where the problem lay. We have appointed a new chief executive, Geoffrey Russell, who is getting on with the task.
My Lords, Sir Andrew Foster has called for a clear capital investment strategy for the further education sector. How can that be achieved when the responsibilities will very shortly be split in two between the pre-19 sector, which will be looked after by local authorities and the new Young People’s Learning Agency, and the post-19 sector, which will be looked after by the Skills Funding Agency? Who will oversee the capital budget?
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that question. The best thing I can do is say that we will write to her to identify clearly—
I detect scepticism again, my Lords, but I assure you that we will. The most important point, which I reiterate, is that the LSC is consulting the sector on the approach that should be used to prioritise schemes. It is important to get the schemes which can go ahead back into operation. I will write to the noble Baroness and advise her in detail of the precise responsibilities of the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People’s Learning Agency.
My Lords—
Cross Bench.
My Lords, it is the turn of the Labour side.
My Lords, while all this is going on, what exactly are the Government doing to help the colleges continue all the valuable work they are doing in training students, training trainees, helping apprentices and doing what they can to get the economy started?
My Lords, we are continuing to invest in a training programme. We have already made it clear that we will not let any college get into a situation where it cannot meet its financial obligations as a result of decisions taken by the LSC.
My Lords, does the Minister agree that this latest failure is symptomatic of a general failure to fund education properly in recent years, especially higher education? We read in the recess of the failure to fund sixth-form students properly and of money being withdrawn at the last moment. This has happened in higher education over the years. Does the Minister agree that it is not satisfactory to build up expectations of higher education and then fail to fund them when the young people come forward?
My Lords, we are dealing here with further education rather than higher education. It cannot be said that we are not spending significant sums on further education, including over £1 billion on the apprenticeship programme and similar on the FE programme. Similarly, over £2.3 billion will be spent on modernisation in the current spending review period.