In a three-hour debate last night, the bill passed its remaining “report” and “third reading” stages.
It was the final opportunity available to backbench and opposition MPs to try and amend the bill before it receives royal assent and enters the statute book. Thirty-five amendments were submitted in total however only three were pushed to a vote and were all defeated.
The government succeeded in passing the legislation they wanted, having had several popular changes made by the House of Lords stripped from the bill back in November.
Much of the bill provides the government with powers to put in place its policy objectives set out in last year’s “skills for jobs” white paper. For example it gives powers to the secretary of state to designate the employer representative bodies that will develop local skills improvement plans.
Amendments that would add new sections to the bill around green skills, delaying BTEC defunding, retraining oil and gas workers in renewables and improving adult literacy were not supported by the government.
Attempts were made in last night’s debate to give local authorities, LEPs and mayoral combined authorities the power to consent to an employer representative body being formed in their local area. An amendment tabled by Labour’s shadow skills minister Toby Perkins to this effect was defeated.
Backbench conservative MP Peter Aldous, who is also chair of the all party parliamentary group for further education, received cross-party support for his amendment which would require the secretary of state to review universal credit conditionality rules which he says are a “barrier” to unemployed and low earning people accessing further education.
Skills minister Alex Burghart rejected Aldous’s plea stating that existing flexibilities were enough and challenging MPs to provide examples of courses that claimants can’t do because of the rules.
Harlow MP and education select committee chair Robert Halfon moved three amendments in last night’s debate, however didn’t move them to a vote. This is a common tactic by MPs from a governing party to have issues raised to receive verbal assurances from ministers.
Halfon’s amendments included adding provisions for prisoner apprenticeships to the bill, which are now being developed.
In a passionate speech about careers guidance, Halfon tabled a popular amendment to enhance the baker clause – a law requiring schools to provide advice and guidance on the full range of FE and apprenticeships options.
During last night’s debate, he said the baker clause “has not been implemented properly” and that it “grieves” him that schools are not providing good advice about apprenticeships.
Responding, skills minister Alex Burghart said that he “expects schools to take note” of the new unit for future skills, which he says will provide schools with the data that shows the positive outcomes of apprenticeships and technical education.
“I am trusting the government to move some way on his,” Halfon said.
A government-backed amendment that gives the Office for Students powers to publish regulatory reports and decisions and protection from defamation claims was passed. This was, in the end, the only main alteration made to the bill in last night’s debate.
The government will remove its advice for staff and students in “most education and childcare settings” to test twice a week for Covid from today, Boris Johnson has announced.
The prime minister told the House of Commons it was time to move from “government restrictions to personal responsibility”, announcing that the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test will end this Thursday.
Those testing positive will still be advised to stay at home if they test positive until April 1, and after that to exercise “personal responsibility”.
And from today, the government is “removing the guidance for staff and students in most education and childcare settings to undertake twice weekly asymptomatic testing”, Johnson said.
This will apply to all settings except special schools and special further education settings, where staff and students will continue to be advised to test weekly.
From April 1, the government will also end “free symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for the general public”, though those in the oldest age groups and the most vulnerable will still get free symptomatic tests.
Johnson also announced today that almost all remaining legal provisions in the 2020 Coronavirus Act will expire on March 24, with only four remaining in place for six months.
Are staff struggling to make ends meet? Are they on unstable contracts?
In the first of a new investigative series, journalist Jess Staufenberg takes a closer look at the state of pay in further education – where staff get on average £9,000 less than their colleagues in schools.
Frontline lecturers, HR managers, principals, the sector’s union and membership association all join Jess to discuss this red-hot topic…as living costs keep climbing.
Join us next month for the episode two – you can subscribe across all platforms.
Colleges should be made “jointly responsible” for the development of local skills improvement plans (LSIPs), principals involved in piloting the new policy have told the education secretary.
Twelve leaders have written to Nadhim Zahawi calling for their role in devising the plans to be “strengthened” and put on an equal footing as employer representative bodies.
LSIPs, which are being developed as part of the government’s skills bill, will aim to make colleges align the courses they offer to local employers’ needs.
Under the proposed legislation, only employer representative bodies such as chambers of commerce can “lead” on the plans, but they should be created in collaboration with colleges and training providers.
Several Lords called for the role of FE providers in the development of the plans to be boosted during the Lords’ stages of the bill. Now, Conservative MP Peter Aldous, has tabled an amendment calling for providers to have joint responsibility for the plans on a statutory footing.
This would build on the government’s own recently approved amendment, that ensures elected mayors have to be involved in agreeing the LSIP approach.
Colleges want the added responsibility to ensure they are not simply recipients of the plans and that they have equal say in the local strategies being deployed.
The principals involved in piloting LSIPs set out two other areas they believe the skills bill can be strengthened in their letter to Zahawi.
“The development of a national post-16 education and skills strategy, that is developed and held across government – and to which LSIPs would make reference, applying these priorities to their local context” is one.
The other is to “retain the skills development fund alongside LSIPs into one overarching model – strengthening the strategic capacity and responsibility of FE providers to work as partners with employers and other key stakeholders”.
Their letter, which you can read in full here, comes ahead of Monday’s report stage of the skills bill.
Skills, skills, skills is the right focus – and with two modest additions, we can achieve much more, writes David Hughes
There can hardly be a better time for the government to be pushing a skills bill through parliament, with employers in every sector across the whole country reporting difficulties in recruiting skilled people. We have the tightest labour market for a very long time, with the lowest recorded ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies. It stands at 1.1 people to every vacancy now, having been as high as five people after the 2008 credit crunch.
Skills is also a fundamental part of the levelling up agenda, with the recent white paper showing that many people are trapped in a cycle of low-skilled, often precarious work, with limited opportunity for progression. There are wider long-term challenges as well – from digitisation and AI, to climate change to an ageing population – that will compound these challenges, and introduce new skills needs right across the labour market. A report from the CBI last year, ‘learning for life: funding world class adult education’ found that as many as nine in ten people will need to reskill by 2030 as a result of these challenges – that means a skills revolution in lifelong learning, and one that needs to happen quickly.
Unfortunately, against that backdrop, participation in adult education in England has fallen, in line with reduced funding, from 4.4 million in 2003/04 to 1.5 million in 2019/20, with those more disadvantaged least likely to take part. This is of course why the government is right to be focussing so centrally on “skills, skills, skills” – and it’s something that is to be wholeheartedly commended.
The post-16 education and skills bill returns to the House of Commons this coming Monday for report stage following a passage of lively debates in both houses. Overall, there is a lot to support, but like most bills, amendments are needed to improve the impact it will have. At this stage there are two significant amendments, both tabled by Tory MPs, which make a lot of sense, but bafflingly seem to be opposed by the government. The first comes from Robert Halfon MP on advice to children about their options, the second from Peter Aldous MP on reviewing whether rules about universal credit get in the way of people getting the skills they need to find jobs.
Robert Halfon’s amendment modestly asks that every child is able to hear about all of the options open to them post-16. That includes the new flagship T Levels, apprenticeships, A-levels and other technical and vocational qualifications. It’s not a lot to ask, that children get to interact three times with the colleges and training providers offering the range of options open to them. Why would anyone want to deny that happening? It would mean more children and young people might follow the path that best suits them, rather than denying them an understanding of those option.
Peter Aldous’s amendment asks for a review of the universal credit rules to ensure they are not a barrier to people getting the skills they need to find work. With such a tight labour market, the big target for DWP should be to support and train people who are long term sick and long term unemployed. Their needs will often be for new or refreshed skills, building their confidence to get back into work. A review would be able to build on the important progress that has been made through skills bootcamps, and the announcement of new pathfinders in the levelling up white paper.
These are two simple and modest amendments, that would build on the ambitions of the skills bill and could have real impact. I hope that MPs from all sides of the house will be supporting both. And I fail to see any reason that they won’t be supported by government too, and embedded into the reforms. I certainly hope they are, and I know that all of us working in education and training and who support these ambitions, will be watching closely.
Skills and access to lifelong learning has rightly been recognised as a vital way to level-up the country, and to meet the challenges of the future.
A red warning was also issued for much of southeast England, including London, with forecasters saying that “extremely strong winds” are likely to cause disruption and dangerous conditions.
Source: Met Office
Forecasters warned of flying debris resulting in danger to life, damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down and cancellations across bus, train, ferry services and flights.
Many colleges across the affected regions have closed campuses and told students to stay at home – with most switching to online learning for the day.
In Hampshire large numbers of colleges decided to close.
“College closed tomorrow (18 February) Due to Storm Eunice all college sites will remain closed tomorrow. Students should follow their normal timetables online via Microsoft Teams,” said a statement on Brockenhurst College’s website.
Eastleigh College, also in Hampshire, closed its campus and put out a message saying that learners who were concerned about their safety or wellbeing should contact their college’s safeguarding team.
Other colleges closed in Hampshire included Fareham College, Havant College, Portsmouth College, South Downs College and Southampton City College.
In the southwest of the country, where the Met Office warned of large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and homes, colleges also issued notices for students and staff to stay at home.
“Due to the rare red weather and amber warnings for Cornwall and Devon, we will be switching to online learning for Friday 18th February and all our campuses will be closed,” said a statement on Cornwall College’s website.
“Our first priority is always the safety of all students and staff, which is why we have made this decision.”
The college said staff were working on sorting arrangements for residential students, high needs students and those who were set to do exams.
Despite the strong winds not all colleges in red weather warning zones decided to shut down campuses.
In Essex, the Colchester Institute issued a statement saying that college sites would remain open to staff or students who were intending to attend the institute’s campuses.
“However, campus users should heed the national weather warnings in place, and, in particular travel is not advised between 10am and 3pm when a red weather warning is in place,” the statement said.
In London only a handful of colleges kept their doors closed, including John Ruskin College, Newham College and WMC – The Camden College.
Many other colleges in the city decided to remain open despite the red weather warning from the Met Office.
The government has extended its Covid workforce fund for schools and colleges again, this time until Easter.
The fund is to cover supply costs at schools and colleges facing “significant staffing and funding pressures”, so they can continue to “deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils”.
The DfE wrote to school and college leaders today, informing them the fund has now been extended for a second time, until Friday April 8.
In its email, the DfE said guidance on the fund would be updated later this week to reflect the extension, with the claims window due to open “in the spring”.
The fund had been reintroduced in November following the emergence of the Omicron variant. It was originally established in 2020 and provides supply funding for supply staff and to increase hours of part-time teachers.
The latest attendance data estimated that around 2.5 per cent of teachers and college leaders, as well as 1.9 per cent of teaching assistants and other staff were absent on February 3.
The report argued that further and higher education must not be pitted against each other if post-16 education and skills systems across the UK are to deliver on pressing societal challenges.
It also identifies how unequal investment and a lack of clarity on the role that universities and colleges play has led to years of “unnecessary tension”.
Researchers warned that post-16 education and skills systems can suffer from being too confusing and difficult to navigate for both students and employers and that competition between institutions exacerbates this problem.
The report calls on colleges, universities and governments to commit to “creating joined-up education and skills systems” with a focus on shared responsibility for the sectors to deliver for people, employers and their places.
Recommendations
The authors of the report made several recommendations for governments across the UK’s four nations.
They suggested governments set an “ambitious ten-year strategy” to ensure lifelong learning for all and to deliver on national ambitions.
The report also called for leaders to balance investment in FE and HE to ensure the whole education and skills system is sustainably funded so that colleges and universities can work in the interests of their local people, employers and communities.
Other suggestions included providing equal maintenance support across loans and grants for HE and FE students, regardless of age, personal circumstances or route into education.
Researchers said that governments should tackle the “messy middle” by defining distinct but complementary roles for colleges and universities to avoid a “turf war” over who delivers various types of education and training.
They also said a single funding and regulatory body for the entire post-16 education and skills system in each nation should be created to deliver more aligned and complementary regulatory approaches that will ensure smoother learner journeys.
FE leaders representing the four UK nations have their say…
The importance of strategic intent and systems leadership
Audrey Cumberford, principal and chief executive at Edinburgh College and a member of the Independent Commission on the College of the Future
Audrey Cumberford
The Going Further and Higher report sets out clearly the need for colleges and universities to come together to collaborate in far deeper ways to support learning and business development.
As a Scottish college leader, I know the importance of having a collective strategic mission. We have a relatively consistent message about the future of tertiary education, which is a real strength of the system.
It is clear, however, from this UK-wide report that too often ambitions are developed without sufficient co-creation of the policy and funding environment needed to deliver on them. This report sets out recommendations that would further develop systems that better empower college and university leaders with autonomy to build more connected place-based networks to support their communities.
Realising a more collaborative future demands college and university leaders to be agile “systems leaders” – reaching beyond the boundaries of their own institutions. The work we are doing in my own city region across the eight colleges and universities shows that it is possible with a coalition of the willing to ask what more we can do collectively.
Partnership working takes time and energy
Shaid Mahmood, chief officer for transformation and change at Leeds City Council, chair of AoC and the Luminate Education Group and pro vice-chancellor-designate at Durham University
Shaid Mahmood
Education at all levels is levelling up. As I prepare to leave local government, and holding roles in both the college and university sectors, I believe the biggest tribute we can pay to this important piece of work is to bring to life the recommendations to develop place-based networks.
As Richard Calvert of Sheffield Hallam University set out at the report’s launch event, we have to be willing to take a step back from institutional interests to truly be civic.
The experience of responding rapidly to the pandemic in local neighbourhoods has left me with little patience for complex arrangements that promise a great deal, but are underwhelming in delivery.
It is important to recognise that partnership working costs, in time and energy. If we don’t invest sufficient resources in collaboration, we risk not delivering the education and skills our people economy desperately need.
In England colleges and universities are too often pitted against each other. We’re collectively much better than that and most definitely stronger together. Our collective potential impact on social mobility and in helping communities to thrive is vast, and I look forward to playing my part at Durham University.
Unlocking opportunities for lifelong learning is critical to support businesses to grow
Mark Huddleston, director at jheSOLUTIONS Ltd and formerly Northern Ireland commissioner for employment and skills
Mark Huddleston
From an employer perspective, the shared vision from colleges and universities for people, productivity, place and partnerships set out in this report strikes a chord. As the world of work changes at pace, unlocking opportunities for lifelong learning presented by greater coordination between the sectors is critical to support businesses to grow, ensure diversity in workforces, and ultimately drive social inclusion.
Delivering learning in a dynamic and flexible manner across colleges and universities would open up a new level of opportunity and innovation. The exciting work of curriculum hubs in Northern Ireland and the new Tertiary Education Group create the possibility to deliver something special for learners and business alike.
Connections and collaborations are an important part of the picture in redressing unproductive competition and giving employers clear routes to engaging across education and skills. With a clear purpose and agreed clarity of roles, the tertiary system will work even more symbiotically with businesses.
How education and skills systems can keep up with what the world needs
Ellen Hazelkorn, author of the review of the oversight of post-compulsory education in Wales and commissioner and member of the Independent Commission on the College of the Future
Ellen Hazelkorn
Building more seamless post-secondary education systems across the four nations has to be the direction of travel, mirroring the shifts other countries are taking to address long-standing societal and economic challenges.
Six years on from its review of the post-compulsory system, which I led, the Welsh government is moving ahead with the legislation to enable a more coordinated system of further and higher education.
An important part of the reforms in Wales is the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER). This will be responsible for overseeing post-16 education, including adult and lifelong learning, with the aim of building a more integrated, coherent system where vocational and academic learning are equally valued.
This report is an affirmation of the progress being made with encouragement for other nations to follow suit in order to ensure that the education and skills systems keep up with what people around the world need to meet life choices and circumstances into the future.
The Department for Education is taking back policy responsibilities from the ESFA, but it’s “consolidated” approach to post-16 policy may not bring the coherence sector leaders were hoping for.
DfE has confirmed that it will absorb post-16 policy and delivery functions from the Education and Skills Funding Agency from April 1, 2022. This was a core recommendation of a review into the agency, covered by FE Week last week, which has now been published in full.
The review said that the agency should instead focus on it’s “core funding role” and that that the DfE should form a single “consolidated” unit for all post-16 skills policy.
In its response, the DfE said: “As part of our work on how we better organise the DfE, we will have a group focussed on further education, higher education and employers, which consolidates all post-16 skills policy under one director general.”
Documents reveal that over 110 education stakeholders were consulted, including some of FE’s national representative organisations, skills leads at several mayoral combined authorities, agency and departmental officials and several college principals and CEOs.
DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood said the changes would mean the DfE is “organised in a way that is clear and makes sense to the stakeholders we work with and will help us deliver the department’s priorities on skills, schools and families”.
“We are serious about our purpose – to help children and learners up and down the country to realise their potential. To make sure the department is best organised to deliver on this we are making some changes.”
ESFA should focus on funding
The review, led by Sir David Bell, tested the functions of the ESFA against Cabinet Office criteria to determine whether it should continue to operate as an ‘arms length body’ to the DfE.
It found that while the ESFA’s funding operations do satisfy the criteria, its policy responsibilities do not. The review indicates that that the department has effectively been outsourcing post-16 policy responsibility to the ESFA since 2018 “when a strong policy delivery focus was needed”.
This has happened because, according to the review’s findings, there has been a “high level of integration” between DfE and ESFA which has led to “ESFA often being treated more as a part of the core department than as an executive agency.”
Stakeholders reported that it was difficult to understand who was responsible for what between the department and the agency, leading the review to conclude that “the sheer breadth of [the agency’s] current role risks distracting from its core funding delivery role and confuses customers.”
Questions remain on centralised post-16 role
Apprenticeships, T Levels and level 4/5 policy as well as the National Careers Service and Worldskills sit currently with the ESFA but will move to the DfE from April 1.
Some sector leaders had hoped that consolidating all post-16 policy within one team at the department would deliver some coherence and consistency across policymaking.
Indeed, the review itself says: “DfE has decided to create a new internal ‘further education higher education and employers (FEHEE) group which will bring together all post-16 policy and operational policy in a single strategic centre.”
However the department were unable to confirm to FE Week today that post-16 school and sixth form policy, including the opening of new sixth forms, will be part of the new consolidated unit. Those functions currently sit on the schools side of DfE.
This comes following years of disputes with financially unviable school sixth forms and the opening of competitor institutions, not least the new proposed elite sixth forms from last month’s levelling up white paper.
Another of the review’s recommendation, which has been “agreed” by DfE states that: “non-financial regulatory functions for academies and the functions related to school/trust governance should move to DfE’s pre-16 regional tier, as should new trust and free school activity and UTC engagement.”
If it remains the case that school sixth form policy remains separate to other post-16 policy areas, that could dash the hopes of those looking forward to a more coherent approach to planning and delivery of post-16 education and skills.
A “further education, higher education and employers” (FEHEE) group within DfE is likely to be headed up by the department’s current director general for higher and further education Paul Kett.
Kett’s new group will include the ESFA’s territory teams as well as its post-16 policy functions.
The agency’s ‘provider market oversight’ functions however will remain within the ESFA.
