Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Western and Perran Moon

Monday 29th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

In January, Storm Goretti slammed into Cornwall, bringing down trees and phonelines, and cutting off individual communities. I was shocked to hear about the story of an elderly couple who were trapped in their bedroom because their stairlift had broken, so villagers had to winch food to them for the weekend. What lessons have been learned from Storm Goretti in relation to the vulnerability project?

[Andrew Western]

I share my hon. Friend’s shock and horror at that particular episode. If he sends me further details of that specific case, I will ensure it is fed into that work. From the data sharing that will be available, I envisage that there will be an ability to recognise where there is a particular and urgent need for access to services, such as the crisis resilience fund. If he writes to me in more detail, I will ensure that any lessons that can be learned are fed in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Western and Perran Moon

Monday 8th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michelle Scrogham (Barrow and Furness) (Lab)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to help to ensure that post-16 education provides the necessary skills to support the economy.

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

17. What steps his Department is taking to help to ensure that post-16 education provides the necessary skills to support the economy.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)]

We have already taken action: we published the skills White Paper in October and we are investing £1 billion in skills packages in sectors that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next five years. The Budget set out more than £1.5 billion over the spending review period for investment in employment and skills support, including for the youth guarantee and apprenticeships for young people.

[Andrew Western]

I will take my hon. Friend’s two questions separately. I strongly agree with her on the first question, because this package of investment will fund new measures to support apprenticeships for young people, including by fully funding apprenticeships at small and medium-sized enterprises for eligible people aged 16 to 24 to boost small business starts and prioritise funding to young people, starting from the next academic year. We are working with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education to deliver the £182 million defence skills package aimed at harnessing the skills needed for the future and meeting the needs of people at various stages in their training and career pathways. My hon. Friend is an exceptional champion for her community in Barrow and Furness. I will not be drawn directly on her question about the location of defence technical excellence colleges, but I would say that there is considerable and rich expertise in Barrow, and I am sure that a college there would be hugely successful.

[Perran Moon]

Cornwall has been identified as a strategically important region for renewable energy and critical minerals, but we currently have a worrying shortage of places at our outstanding further education colleges. Can the Minister reassure me that the necessary skills funding will be made available to support these growth industries in an area of high social deprivation that was neglected by the Conservatives for 14 years?

[Andrew Western]

My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that we published our clean energy jobs plan in October, which set out how we will deliver the pipeline of skilled workers that the sector needs. The plan includes five technical excellence colleges that will specialise in training skilled clean energy workforces as part of a £182 million investment to support engineering skills in clean energy occupations and other priority sectors. Local skills improvement plans will help to identify the key skills priorities for each area of the country, and clean energy and other green skills must be considered in the development of those plans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Western and Perran Moon

Monday 27th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

Meur ras, Mr Speaker.

I represent the most deprived constituency in Cornwall, which is itself one of the most deprived areas in northern Europe. Child poverty shot up under the Conservatives. Today our local further education college—Cornwall college, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted—is turning away young learners in construction and engineering because of a lack of space. The college has a solution allowing it to expand, but will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss the issue and help our amazing young people to break this cycle of deprivation?

[Andrew Western]

I am sorry to hear of the situation that my hon. Friend has outlined. If the Secretary of State is unable to meet him, I would be more than happy to do so.