Labour | FE Week

One year in, Labour’s skills revolution is feeling hollow

Skills were meant to be at the heart of Labour’s economic revival. Yet, after a year of bureaucratic tweaks and missed opportunities, the promised transformation remains elusive

Seema Malhotra, Labour’s shadow skills minister

Seema Malhotra claims that if Labour wins power, she will unleash a “skills revolution”. So far, the opposition’s headline post-16 policy offer includes, controversially, replacing the apprenticeship levy, creating newly badged “technical excellence colleges” and a national skills quango. But little is known about the shadow skills minister, appointed by Keir Starmer in September, and […]

The skills bill could have been so much better

Both Labour and Conservative voices have been ignored by the government, writes Toby Perkins After the government blocked no fewer than 32 amendments to the skills bill, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it “will leave this place in a much improved state”. I have to disagree. It was weakened, and the skills bill could have […]

The FE Week Podcast: Adult training reforms, degree apprenticeships and the new shadow education secretary

In this episode, Shane is joined by Mary Curnock Cook, chair of Pearson and former chief executive at UCAS, Eddie Playfair at the Association of Colleges and Asfa Sohail, principal at Lewisham College. Are adult training reforms happening fast enough? Are universities struggling to deliver degree apprenticeships? And with a new shadow education secretary, what […]

IFS: Parties’ spending plans leave 16 to 18 education with 10% less than schools

General election manifesto plans of all three major parties’ proposals will leave spending for 16 to 18-year-olds around 10 per cent lower than secondary schools, according to new analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The think tank says that while the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats are all proposing to spend more on this […]

General Election 2017 | a closer look at election pledges

When I wrote my last general election supplement in 2015, I never thought I’d be doing another over two years. But that’s the world we live in now, so here we go again. Click here to download the supplement Education is once again a key issue on the campaign trail and in these 20 pages, […]

Subsidised apprentice travel plan falls off Labour manifesto

A long-term pledge to cover the cost of apprentice travel has not made it into Labour’s final general election manifesto – despite it featuring in a leaked draft version. Last week, the draft version first leaked to our sister paper FE Week, included a commitment to paying for apprentices’ travel costs, “which currently run to […]

Costs in question after Labour apprentice pledge

The financial implications of Labour’s pledge to cover apprentices’ travel costs have been called into question, after the Conservatives labelled their costings a “total shambles”. A leaked draft version of Labour’s manifesto committed to paying for apprentices’ travel costs, “which currently run to an average of £24 a week – a quarter of earnings if […]

Marsden survives Labour party reshuffle

The “indefatigable” shadow minister for higher education, FE and skills has kept his post, following a Labour party reshuffle. Gordon Marsden has held onto the role since September 2015, when he moved over from the transport department, and was praised by Jeremy Corbyn during an exclusive interview with FE Week back in February. The Labour […]