Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy

Debate between Amanda Hack and Bridget Phillipson

Monday 20th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

We are talking about a relatively small number of students. Colleges and schools will retain the freedom to decide what study programmes they wish to offer their students, but we as a Government have decided to reprioritise the large programme uplift on industrial strategy priorities, involving, for example, those studying for four or more A-levels in STEM subjects, including further maths. We think that is the right decision, but there will be transitional protections for institutions that currently offer the international baccalaureate.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I welcome the statement, including the key commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunities to enable young people to gain the education that they deserve. This new focus will also support the employers who have been consistently talking to me about the skills challenges they face, particularly those relating to vocational skills. However, kids in my constituency are often locked out of vital opportunities simply because of the lack of transport. What work is the Secretary of State doing with transport colleagues to challenge that barrier and ensure that those young people in my rural constituency have access to those technical qualifications?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I recognise the challenge that my hon. Friend has mentioned. It is, of course, a challenge for rural communities in particular, but it often affects areas that are not rural, because of our fragmented transport network and the lack of join-up between transport systems and the increasing lack of bus services. We, as a Government, are taking action in respect of bus services to provide more opportunities for young people to get to college in order to study, but also to grow businesses. I have seen some fantastic work, led by many of our mayors, to bring together a better offer for young people, to allow them to travel to places of study and to work placements, and to gain access to other opportunities. That is a model that those in other areas might be able to consider in the future.

Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Debate between Amanda Hack and Bridget Phillipson

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

That was very good. I slightly resisted being drawn into the Oasis references earlier, and now we have moved on to Blur. I will stay out of that one, even though I have my preference.

My hon. Friend is right to talk about the importance of play for all children. It is striking—I am sure she will have heard the same thing from her younger constituents—that many children often do not feel safe to go out of the house and to be on our streets. We absolutely have to tackle that, because it is having a big impact on not just their mental health but their physical health. I would be happy to discuss that further with my hon. Friend.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. At a recent joint meeting of the Work and Pensions Committee and the Education Committee, Sure Start was named by the panel as the previous Labour Government’s most positive policy for children. The policy had a very proud legacy, yet the Conservative party closed 50% of our centres in Leicestershire. Does the Secretary of State agree that building the foundations and investing in families, as happens at our family hub in North West Leicestershire, will ensure long-term benefits like those achieved by Sure Start? Will she say how Best Start family hubs will work alongside pre-schools and primary schools to aid the delicate transition into school?

[Bridget Phillipson]

The hubs will be key to our vision for how we better join up education and health services in the community, but they will also work with voluntary and community groups, childminders, libraries and others to bring services close to local people. My hon. Friend talked about the important links between early years settings and the start of school. We are setting out through the strategy how we will do more to better join up the support between early years settings and schools. We will use that not only as the basis for greater expertise, training and development, but, crucially, as the basis for better life chances and opportunities for children. If we can identify where children are struggling and not making the progress we would hope they were making, and share that at the start of school, it will make a really big difference.