A cross-party letter has been signed by 164 MPs and handed to the chancellor demanding an above inflation increase to FE funding in the upcoming spending review.
Co-authored by Conservative MP Richard Graham and Labour MP Nic Dakin, the letter tells Phillip Hammond that “while government policy has protected the incomes of schools and universities, colleges have been dealt an average funding cut of 30 per cent over the last ten years”.
“We believe this constraint on FE resources has had an impact on the teaching, courses and above all opportunities for young people and skills of all ages,” it adds, and describes FE as the “Cinderella” of education spending.
The letter, which was given to Mr Hammond by Mr Graham and Gloucestershire College principal Matthew Burgess on Friday, was backed by 89 Conservative MPs and 72 Labour MPs, as well as two Liberal Democrat MPs and one Green Party MP.
It adds that the chancellor’s departmental spending review is a “chance to announce an above inflation increase which would boost skills, productivity and social mobility”.
The letter follows two high-profile campaigns to boost FE funding over the last year – Raise the Rate and Love Our Colleges.
Both are calling for funding for all 16 to 19-year-olds to increase to £4,760.
Funding for 16 and 17-year-olds has been frozen at £4,000 per student since 2013, while per-student funding for 18-year-olds was cut to £3,300 in 2014.
The campaigns have been gathering momentum in recent weeks and led to over 50 MPs taking part in a Westminster Hall debate in January when members from all sides of the House of Commons called for an end to six years of real-term FE funding rate cuts.
After signing the letter, Mr Dakin said: “From my years as a college principal, I know how important this issue is. Our colleges are the engines of social mobility, transforming the prospects of our young people and delivering the skills our local businesses want.
“It is vital that the government invests in our colleges.”
James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said: “This year’s spending review is a pivotal one for colleges so we are pleased that so many MPs are backing calls for an increase in funding.
“If the government is serious about improving social mobility and increasing productivity, raising the funding rate for 16 to 18 year olds should be one of the Chancellor’s main priorities.”
The Association of Colleges chief executive, David Hughes, added: “There is now very strong cross-party support for the 2.2 million people who study and train in FE colleges each year. It’s vital the government helps those tasked with helping to solve the skills gap.”
Main image: Richard Graham MP handing over the cross party letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond beside Gloucestershire College principal Matthew Burgess
The 164 MPs that back the call for more FE funding:
Conservative |
Labour |
Lib Dem |
Green |
Richard Graham MP – Gloucester |
Jack Dromey MP – Birmingham, Erdington |
Wera Hobhouse MP – Bath |
Caroline Lucas MP – Brighton, Pavilion |
Alex Chalk MP – Cheltenham |
Christian Matheson MP – City of Chester |
Vince Cable MP – Twickenham West Derby |
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Sir Roger Gale MP – North Thanet |
Lillian Greenwood MP – Nottingham South |
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Robert Courts MP – Witney |
Nik Dakin MP – Scunthorpe |
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Philip Davies MP – Shipley |
Wes Streeting MP – Ilford North |
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Ben Bradley MP – Mansfield |
Diana Johnson MP – Kingston upon Hull North |
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Mark Garnier MP – Wyre Forest |
Anna Turley MP – Redcar |
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Peter Aldous MP- Waveney |
Melanie Onn MP – Great Grimsby |
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Andrea Jenkyns MP – Morley & Outwood |
Lisa Nandy MP – Wigan |
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William Wragg MP – Hazel Grove |
Louise Haigh MP – Sheffield |
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Damien Moore MP – Southport |
Gareth Thomas MP – Harrow West |
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Sir Nicholas Soames MP – Mid Sussex |
Dan Jarvis MP – Barnsley Central |
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Martin Vickers MP – Cleethorpes |
Karl Turner MP – Kingston upon Hull East |
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Jeremy Lefroy MP- Stafford |
Jeff Smith MP – Manchester, Withington |
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Will Quince MP – Colchester |
Stephen Timms MP – East Ham |
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Charlie Elphicke MP – Dover |
Lucy Powell MP – Manchester Central |
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Scott Mann MP – North Cornwall |
Chi Onwurah MP – Newcastle Upon Tyne |
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Richard Drax MP – South Dorset |
Ruth Cadbury MP – Brentford & Isleworth |
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Mark Prisk MP – Hertford & Stortford |
Vernon Coaker MP – Gedling |
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Maria Caulfield MP – Lewes |
Daniel Zeichner MP – Cambridge |
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Dr Sarah Wollaston MP – Totnes |
Alex Cunningham MP – Stockton North |
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Neil O’Brien MP – Harborough |
Paul Blomfield MP – Sheffield Central |
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Dr Julian Lewis MP – New Forest East |
Alex Sobel MP – Leeds North West |
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Dame Caroline Spelman MP – Meriden |
Jonathan Reynolds MP – Stalybridge & Hyde |
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Andrew Percy MP – Brigg and Goole |
Stephen Kinnock MP – Aberavon |
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Boris Johnson MP – Uxbridge & South Ruislip |
Dr Alan Whitehead MP – Southampton, Test |
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Sir Robert Syms MP – Poole |
Shabana Mahmood MP – Birmingham, Ladywood |
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Philip Dunne MP – Ludlow |
Andy Slaughter MP – Hammersmith |
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Marcus Jones MP – Nuneaton |
Rosie Duffield MP – Canterbury |
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Sir Hugo Swire MP – East Devon |
Seema Malhotra MP – Feltham and Heston |
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Laurence Robertson MP – Tewkesbury |
Rushanara Ali MP – Bethnal Green & Bow |
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Neil Parish MP – Tiverton and Honiton |
Liz Twist MP – Blaydon |
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Sir Henry Bellingham MP – North West Norfolk |
Clive Efford MP – Eltham |
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Maria Miller MP – Basingstoke |
Luke Pollard MP – Plymouth, Sutton & Devonport |
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Julian Sturdy MP – York Outer |
Sharon Hodgson MP – Washington & Sunderland West |
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Andrew Selous MP – South West Bedfordshire |
Karyn Smyth MP – Bristol South |
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Stephen Metcalfe MP – South Basildon & East Thurrock |
Kate Hollern MP – Blackbum |
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Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP – The Cotswolds |
Karen Buck MP-Westminster North |
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Bim Afolami MP – Hitchin & Harpenden |
Richard Burden MP – Birmingham, Northfield |
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Damian Collins MP – Folkestone and Hythe |
Liam Byrne MP – Birmingham, Hodge Hill |
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Jacob Rees-Mogg MP – North East Somerset |
Helen Goodman MP – Bishop Auckland |
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Simon Hart MP – Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire |
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP – Durham |
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Daniel Kawczynski MP – Shrewsbury and Atcham |
Stephen Twigg MP – Liverpool |
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Andrew Lewer MBE MP – Northampton South |
Thelma Walker MP – Colne Valley |
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Mark Menzies MP – Fylde |
Eleanor Smith MP – Wolverhampton South West |
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Damian Green MP – Ashford |
Stella Creasy MP – Walthamstow |
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Anne Marie Morris MP – Newton Abbot |
Mohammad Yasin MP – Bedford |
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Pauline Latham MP – Mid Derbyshire |
Alison McGovern MP – Wirral South |
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James Gray MP – North Wiltshire |
Emma Lewell-Buck MP – South Shields |
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Zac Goldsmith MP -Richmond Park |
Anneliese Dodds MP-Oxford East |
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Ian Liddell-Grainger MP – Bridgwater & West Somerset |
Paul Williams MP – Stockton South |
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Gordon Henderson MP – Sittingbourne & Sheppey |
Matt Western MP-Warwick and Leamington |
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Chris Green MP – Bolton West |
Afzal Khan MP – Manchester, Gorton |
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Conor Burns MP – Bournemouth West |
Rosie Cooper MP-West Lancashire |
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Andrew Griffiths MP – Burton and Uttoxeter |
Bambos Charalambous MP-Enfield, Southgate |
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Mark Pawsey MP – Rugby |
Marsha De Cordova MP-Battersea |
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Anne Main MP – St Albans |
Yasmin Qureshi MP – Bolton South East |
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Anna Soubry MP – Broxtowe |
Grahame Morris MP – Easington |
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Robert Halfon MP – Harlow |
Julie Cooper MP – Burnley |
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Giles Watling MP – Clacton |
Alex Norris MP-Nottingham North |
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Crispin Blunt MP – Reigate |
Thangam Debbonaire MP – Bristol West |
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Bob Stewart MP – Beckenham |
Jared O’Mara MP – Sheffield, Hallam |
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Royston Smith MP – Southampton, ltchen |
Jack Dromey MP – Birmingham, Erdington |
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Marcus Fysh MP – Yeovil |
Naz Shah MP – Bradford West |
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David Tredinnick MP – Bosworth |
Vicky Foxcroft MP – Lewisham, Deptford |
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Nick Boles MP – Grantham and Stamford |
Gill Furniss MP – Sheffield, Brightside, and Hillsborough |
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Michael Tomlinson MP – Mid Dorset and North Poole |
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP – Slough |
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Antoinette Sandbach MP – Eddisbury |
Faisal Rashid MP – Warrington South |
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Kevin Hollinrake MP – Thirsk and Malton |
Catherine West MP – Hornsey & Wood Green |
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Eddie Hughes MP – Walsall North |
Yvonne Fovargue MP – Makerfield |
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Dan Poulter – Central Suffolk & North Ipswich |
Steve McCabe MP – Birmingham, Selly Oak |
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Heidi Allen MP – South Cambridgeshire |
Mary Glindon MP – North Tyneside |
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Gillian Keegan MP – Chichester |
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Iain Duncan Smith MP – Chingford and Woodford Green |
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James Heappey MP- Wells |
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Anne Marie Trevelyan MP – Berwick-upon-Tweed |
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Rebecca Pow MP – Taunton Deane |
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Tracey Crouch MP – Chatham & Aylesford |
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Henry Smith MP – Crawley |
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Bill Cash MP – Stone |
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Sheryll Murray MP – South East Cornwall |
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Nigel Mills MP – Amber Valley |
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Mike Penning MP – Hemel Hempstead |
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Craig Mackinlay MP – South Thanet |
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Sir Bernard Jenkin MP – Harwich & North Essex |
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Keith Simpson MP – Broadland |
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Andrew Bridgen MP – North West Leicestershire |
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Nadine Dorries MP – Mid Bedfordshire |
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Steve Double MP – St Austell & Newquay |
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