Sandy Martin
Main Page: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)Department Debates - View all Sandy Martin's debates with the Department for Education
College Funding
Sandy Martin Excerpts(5 years, 3 months ago)
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Sandy Martin (Ipswich) (Lab)
Ipswich was very pleased to welcome opportunity area status, which we were granted by the previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), to try to improve the not very good social mobility in our area. However, there is no way that we will improve social mobility if we do not have the necessary facilities in place, and in particular the skilled and competent staff to help provide the opportunity for additional social mobility.
Daniel Zeichner
My hon. Friend and near neighbour is absolutely right, and that is a key issue for the east of England, which is often seen as a prosperous and successful region, but its skills shortages have been a problem for a long, long time and they need to be addressed.
I will also quote Yolanda Botham, the principal of Long Road Sixth Form College, another excellent college in Cambridge. She tells me:
“The current level of funding has meant for Long Road that we have had to reduce our curriculum offer. We no longer provide A-level German, for example. We have had to reduce the broader opportunities and enrichment opportunities that we can provide, limiting the number of trips and experiences we can offer, which really matter for social mobility. Visits and trips show what’s possible and enable students to see beyond their immediate horizons.”
She says that it is particularly galling to note that
“our private school neighbours, charging £17,000 annually, do not have to pay VAT, yet we do.”