Ian C. Lucas
Main Page: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)Department Debates - View all Ian C. Lucas's debates with the Department for Education
(9 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Gyimah
The hon. Lady forgot to mention that we currently have the lowest ever level of NEETs, thanks to this Government’s long-term economic plan. As I said in response to the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans), many education providers already have excellent links with employers, as the CBI says, and what they want to see is organisations such as the National Careers Service, Jobcentre Plus, local enterprise partnerships and education business partnerships offering support to schools. That is how we will get our young people into work.
Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab)
9. What assessment she has made of the effect on admission numbers for sixth-form colleges of funding changes since 2010.
The Minister for Skills, Enterprise and Equalities (Nick Boles)
In case it was not clear the first time, let me explain that despite a fall in the population of 16 to 19-year-olds, sixth-form colleges have been allocated 2% more places in 2014-15 than in 2010-11.
Ian Lucas
My question is different from the one that the Minister answered earlier, so it would be helpful if he addressed himself to it specifically. The Sixth Form Colleges Association tells us that £100 million has been taken out of sixth-form colleges since 2010, and we have also heard about the disparity they face in connection with VAT. Why are this Government treating sixth-form colleges so badly?
Nick Boles
I do not want to be pernickety, but the hon. Gentleman’s question reads as follows:
“What assessment she has made of the effect on admissions numbers for sixth-form colleges of funding changes”.
The answer is that the funding changes have produced an increase in admission numbers to sixth-form colleges.