Liam Byrne has succeeded Gordon Marsden in the Labour Shadow Education team, taking on the role as Shadow Universities and Skills Minister in this week’s reshuffle.
Mr Byrne, MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, had been Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since January 2011.
Before that, he was Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, shadowing the role he had played in government prior to the 2010 general election.
Mr Bryne was born in Warrington, near Manchester, and completed his A levels at the at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, in Bishop’s Stortford, before studying politics and modern history at the University of Manchester.
He also studied for an MBA at the Harvard Business School.
Before his election as an MP in 2004, he worked for Accenture, a multi-national consulting firm and merchant bankers NM Rothschild & Sons. He also co-founded a technology company called e-Government Solutions Group.
Under the last Labour Government, he served as Minister for the Cabinet office and Minister of State for Borders and Immigration.
He hit the headlines following the 2010 election, when it emerged he had left a note to his successor on his desk reading “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam.”
Bethnal Green and Bow MP Rushanara Ali has replaced Tristram Hunt as the FE and skills Labour Shadow Education Minister.
Ms Ali had previously been on the Labour team for international development since 2011.
Following the announcement of her promotion, Ms Ali took to Twitter to say working on the international development brief had been a “pleasure and a privilege”, but she was “delighted to be joining the shadow education team”.
Ms Ali’s family emigrated from Bangladesh when she was seven years old and she grew up in Tower Hamlets, in London’s East End, and attended Tower Hamlets College.
She credited much of her success to her time at college, saying her achievements were “the achievements of teachers and youth workers at Mulberry School and Tower Hamlets College.
“It was their support and belief that led me to a place at Oxford University and jobs in Parliament.”
The 38-year-old was the first person of Bangladeshi origin to have been elected to the House of Commons when she won the Bethnal Green and Bow seat from Respect MP George Galloway in the 2010 general election.
Along with Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi, she was also one of the UK’s first female Muslim MPs.
She has previously worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and on human rights issues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during Tony Blair’s government.
Mr Hunt has taken over the role as Shadow Secretary of State from Stephen Twigg MP, who has returned to the Labour back benches.
Numeracy and literacy levels among young people in England and Northern Ireland are falling way behind the rest of the world, a new report on adult skills has warned.
The figures appeared this morning in a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
It warned England and Northern Ireland had some of the highest proportions of adults scoring at or below level one — the lowest possible level — in numeracy, where adults can only perform basic mathematical processes.
It stated: “In fact, 24.1 per cent of adults, around 8.5 million people, scored at that level, compared to the average [among participating countries from across the world] of 19 per cent.”
Around 16.4 per cent of adults, or around 5.8 million people, in England and Northern Ireland scored at level one or below in literacy, which is closer to the average of 15.5 per cent of adults among all participating countries.
At level one in literacy, adults can only read brief information on familiar topics.
The report warned: “Individuals with lower proficiency in literacy are more likely than those with better literacy skills to report poor health, to believe that they have little impact on political processes, and not to participate in associative or volunteer activities.”
It is a damning indictment on level of basic education levels in England and Northern Ireland.
However, it could bolster support for government vocational traineeship schemes, launched in August, which aim to boost trainees’ maths and English as well as on-the-job skills.
In terms of ability to solve technology-orientated problems — for example using computers — just 42.4 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds in England and Northern Ireland were proficient at level two or three, compared to the average among 23 participating countries of 50.7 per cent.
England is also the only country surveyed where the oldest age group (55 to 65) has higher proficiency in literacy and numeracy than the youngest group (16 to 24).
This was 21 per cent lower than in Korea, the best performing country in this area.
The OECD report stated: “The implication for England and Northern Ireland is that the stock of skills available to them is bound to decline over the next decades unless significant action is taken to improve skills proficiency among young people.”
It warned about high levels of social and pay inequality among skilled and unskilled workers.
“The median of hourly wage of workers who score at level four or five in literacy is 94 per cent higher than that of workers who score at below level one,” stated the report.
“In England and Northern Ireland 83.4 per cent of highly skilled adults are employed, compared to an average of 79.1 per cent of adults in all participating countries.
“Only 13.4 per cent of adults scoring at level four or five [compared to 17.1 per cent on average across participating countries] are out of the labour force.”
Tristram Hunt has been promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for Education following the departure of Stephen Twigg in today’s cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Hunt, who is MP for Stoke-on-Trent, had served as Shadow Education Minister since April this year.
We recently caught up with Mr Hunt on a tour of Walsall College (pictured, above), where he told FE Week editor Nick Linford that plans for Labour’s FE policies were still in the pipeline, but did say that one of the party’s aims was to “upgrade the status of the teaching profession.”
The full interview with Nick and Tristram can be found here.
Tristram Hunt MP and Walsall College principal Jatinder Sharma Picture (including those on front page) by Emma Trimble for FE Week
He also hinted at the idea of a UCAS-style admissions system for FE.
“One of the things we’re really interested in is how we make things simpler for progression through the education systems in terms of technical and vocational route,” said Mr Hunt.
“We know the academic pathway through GCSE, A level, and university is very clear to navigate and teachers are very good at telling pupils about that, but it’s very unclear for technical and vocational education, so creating a streamlined UCAS-style system is something we’re going to be pushing for as a policy route.”
He also attended our Labour Party conference Fringe event last month.
Tristram Hunt at the FE Week Labour fringe event
Speaking of his role as shadow minister at the time, he said: “It is a great pleasure to be here. My job as junior shadow education spokesman focuses on careers education, on technical vocational education for 16 to 18-year-old and youth services.
“I like to think of it as everything Michael Gove is not interested in, so it’s a free rein.”
The 39-year-old is also a historian, broadcaster and lectures on Modern British History at Queen Mary, University of London in Mile End, East London. He has written several books and is a regular writer for The Guardian and The Observer.
The full FE Week profile interview with him can be found here.
You can also catch up with all the action at the FE Week Labour Conference Fringe event in our supplement here.
Nearly a third of apprentices were not paid the legal minimum wage in 2012, according to information published by the department for Business, Innovation and Skills this afternoon.
The findings in the Apprenticeships pay survey 2012, dubbed “shocking” by unions, show 29 per cent of learners did not receive the then legal minimum of £2.65 an-hour last year, up 45 per cent from 20 per cent the year before.
In October this year, the legal minimum wage was increased to £2.68 an-hour.
The survey also found that the amount of time apprentices spent training had fallen — those doing off-the-job-training said they spent five hours training on average, compared to 6.3 hours in 2011.
Time spent on- the-job training fell from 12.4 hours in 2011 to 11.6 in 2012.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “These findings are shocking and show how many apprentices are currently seen as little more than cheap labour.”
Some industries had even higher percentages of apprentices not getting their full entitlement.
In childcare, underpayment was up 65 per cent on the previous year, while 69 per cent of hairdressing apprentices were underpaid.
Ms O’Grady said: “Apprentice exploitation is getting worse across the board. In some industries, such as hairdressing, abuse has become endemic. Ministers must launch investigations now into this abuse.”
“This survey also reveals a number of systematic failures in the way apprenticeship pay is being monitored. There are plenty of bad bosses who have deliberately cheated young workers. And it appears many businesses do not understand how minimum wage rates work.
“Unless the government does more to make companies aware of their responsibilities, as well as naming, shaming and persecuting rogue employers, many apprentices will continue to be exploited.”
Shadow Skills Minister Gordon Marsden also called on the government to act.
He told FE Week: “The toplines on this seems really quite disturbing. I will want to look at all the details of it and then ask some sharp questions of the government on what their response is and what they are going to do about it.”
Skills Minister Matthew Hancock said that creating the right pay and working conditions for apprentices was crucial to the continued success of the programme.
“I am very clear about the importance of the National Minimum Wage,” he said.
“Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal and if employers break this law they need to know that we will take action.
“We have revised the National Minimum Wage Naming scheme so it is easier to name and shame employers who break minimum wage law, alongside increasing awareness of the minimum wage rules and ensuring all training providers inform employers and apprentices of the requirements.”
He added: “I now write to each and every new Apprentice setting out what they can expect. In the medium term we are reforming Apprenticeships more broadly, including insisting on off the job training as part of the Apprenticeship.”
He urged apprentices who believed they were being underpaid to contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368 for free confidential advice.
Matthew Hancock MP, now Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise has been congratulated on his expanded portfolio by bodies from across the FE sector.
Mr Hancock, formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Skills, was promoted during today’s ministerial reshuffle.
The chief executive of the Association of Colleges, Martin Doel, joined representatives from the NUS, the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), the 157 Group and the Education and Training Foundation in offering the minister “warm congratulations”.
Mr Doel added that he was pleased Mr Hancock had not been moved to a different department.
He said: “Continuity is very important and so we’re pleased to know that we will be working with the same Minister in future.”
AELP chief executive Stewart Segal agreed there were benefits to Mr Hancock keeping both his BIS and Education briefs, describing it as “very encouraging news” that would support “cohesive policy making”.
He said: “Matthew Hancock has done a fantastic job in championing apprenticeships and traineeships and it is important that he is staying on to oversee the apprenticeship reform process.”
Others felt that Mr Hanock’s promotion could help to give extra prominence to FE.
Joe Vinson, NUS vice president for Further Education, said:“It is positive to see the link between further education and skills on the one hand, and enterprise and growth on the other, properly recognised by the resurrection of this cross-departmental minister of state role.
“We hope that the work that was started on supporting apprenticeships and traineeships will now be followed up with an improvement in opportunities, terms and conditions, as well as seeing more done on getting chartered status for colleges and on keeping professional teachers and trainers at the heart of further education.”
157 Group chief executive Lynne Sedgmore, described the new post of Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise as “an acknowledgement of the vital role that the Further Education and skills sector plays in economic growth and in strengthening Britain’s position in the global race.”
A spokesperson for The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said: “We hope the promotion of Matthew Hancock to Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise will give a higher profile to his work on skills and mean this is given a greater priority by the government.
“The near million unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds desperately need a champion to help them gain the skills they need to find work.”
Niace director of communications and public affairs Tom Stannard agreed, saying the organisation was “pleased to see skills given prominence in Mr Hancock’s title”.
“Now is a crucial time for enterprise and this provides a good opportunity to make sure that learning and skills strategies are central to the Local Enterprise Partnerships growth plans and not to be seen as secondary to infrastructure, transport and housing,” he said.
“There is a major challenge ahead with ensuring that all adults are equipped with the high-level skills that our economy needs and which will help them adapt to the changing global market. We wish the Minister every success and look forward to our continued working relationship.”
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, wished Mr Hancock well with his extended brief.
She said: “After the Prime Minister’s assessment of the problems young people face last week, we desperately need a champion of young people in Government.
“We hope Mr Hancock will encourage a more thoughtful debate around why so many youngsters are inactive. Young people are desperate to work or train, but there are simply not the opportunities available.”
A spokesperson from the Education and Training Foundation said: “We look forward to continuing to play our part in the vital aspects of workforce development, including priority areas associated with improving vocational education and training.”
A college governor’s tragic loss led colleagues to help raise nearly £10,000 for charity, writes Rebecca Cooney.
A charity cycle took on a personal significance for a college governor and his wife, as college staff helped raise almost £10,000 for a charity dedicated to the memory of their baby daughter.
A four-strong team, from MidKent College, took part in the gruelling Cyclothon UK relay race around the famous Brand’s Hatch motor racing track, in Longfield, Kent.
Their aim was to raise money for governor David Ward’s charity, Abigail’s Footsteps, which campaigns for better support for parents coping with stillbirth and counts television weathergirl Sian Lloyd as a vice president.
David and his wife Jo were expecting their first child in 2009, but at 41 weeks doctors were unable to find a heartbeat and informed them the baby girl they’d named Abigail Rosie-Ann had died.
The couple’s heart-wrenching experiences over the next few days inspired them to set up Abigail’s Footsteps.
“We had a tough time in the hospital — they are geared up for delivering babies and getting mums out, they’re not very good when one dies,” said David.
“Some of the staff have never experienced it, some of them don’t know how deal with it and a lot of hospitals don’t have the facilities.”
Since Abigail’s death, David and Jo have gone on to have two children, Rueben and Bethany, but continue to campaign to prevent other families from having the experiences they did.
But memory of the ordeal is still raw for Jo and David, who recall how the hospital didn’t have a dedicated space for families in their situation.
“We found out on the Sunday night. Jo was induced on the Monday morning after the final scan and delivered on the Wednesday morning,” said David.
“So for three days we lived in the hospital, in among the delivery suites, hearing the newborn babies crying and the families celebrating, so it wasn’t really a good place.”
One of the charity’s campaigns is for hospitals to have a dedicated bereavement suite.
Jo and David would also like to see information booklets supplied to parents explaining what their options are.
“Your child dies and you have no idea what you can do or what you can’t,” said David.
Such information, he said, should be available to parents, along with details of funeral options and birth and death registrations.
“Things have got to change really,” he said.
Jo said: “We hope that by raising money and awareness through Abigail’s Footsteps we will spare other parents the trauma and devastating loss that we went through.”
Of the 275 riders racing for different charities around a 2.6-mile course in the Cyclothon, 24 were racing for Abigail’s footsteps, with the four MidKent College staff taking on a longer 12-hour solo challenge.
From left: sport lecturer William Lee, television weathergirl Sian Lloyd and head of faculty Graham Heath at the charity Cyclothon
The college team consisted of caretaker Jason Payne, head of faculty for care and community services Graham Heath and sport lecturers Mark Lampard and William Lee.
Along with two non-college teammates, they finished in fourth place after completing 61 laps between them. The Abigail’s Footsteps team efforts raised £9,552 in total.
David said: “It was a good day. Thanks so much to the college for their help and support.”
Mark said: “An amazing day was had by all. It was a privilege to support such a fantastic charity and we are already planning to return next year.”
The charity’s next project is to raise awareness through a specially commissioned film, which follows how a mother deals with a stillbirth on her journey through hospital.
The film will premiere on December 9.
Visit www.abigailsfootsteps.co.uk to donate to Abigail’s Footsteps, or find out more about the Rochester-based charity, founded in 2010.
Staff and students at a college in Yorkshire enjoyed a spot of tea and raised money for charity at the same time.
The Selby College hospitality and catering department baked an array of scones and cakes, which were served with tea and coffee in the college restaurant for a tea party, which raised more than £170 for Yorkshire Cancer Research.
Yorkshire Cancer Research senior marketing officer Vikki Fillingham said: “We really appreciate the fantastic support that Selby College is giving Yorkshire Cancer Research.
“It’s great that they are hosting their own tea party in such impressive facilities and with such a professional level of service from the students.”
With a year-long fundraising initiative, the college aims to raise more than £10,000 for the charity.
Surrey student and champion triathlete is in a race against time to raise more than £1,000 to compete in the World Championships in Hawaii.
Bury College BTec sport student Bryn Davies needs to generate £320 to enter the competition and also cash for his returns flights, which could cost more than £1,000.
His dad Colin said: “The bank of mum and dad simply can’t find this kind of money in such a short period of time.”
The 17-year-old made it through, having won the 16 to 19 category at the XTERRA England event, beating professional athletes in a 1,500-metre swim, 30km mountain bike ride and a 10km fell run.
Email Bryndavies@gmail.com to help him raise funds for the October 27 event.
