Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

If the hon. Lady would be so kind as to provide me with some information and more details, I will happily ensure that she gets a proper response.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T3. We recently had brilliant news in Dartford for young people in the constituency and across the region, with North Kent college designated as a technical excellence college, with a focus on transforming construction training. That is perfect for the lower Thames crossing just coming on stream. The college, however, is full to the brim and wants to expand. Will the Minister look at how colleges such as North Kent can gain access to crucial capital to enable them to expand?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the fantastic team at North Kent college on all their hard work, and congratulate him on his championing of great vocational and technical routes for our young people. The Government have committed £80 million of capital funding to construction technical excellence colleges. We will also be investing a further £375 million over four years to provide additional places for 16 to 19-year-olds. I will be saying more on that shortly, and I am happy to discuss it further with my hon. Friend.