Sixth-Form Colleges (VAT)
Debate between Kelvin Hopkins and Lisa Nandy(10 years, 4 months ago)
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Lisa Nandy
The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I am grateful to her for raising that issue. The culture in sixth-form colleges is enormously beneficial to such young people, and the staff are obviously passionate and determined to ensure that those young people reach their potential.
In conclusion, Ministers have accepted that this situation is unfair, so will the Minister who is here in Westminster Hall today take steps to create a level playing field for sixth-form colleges?
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)
My hon. Friend may be interested to know that my very first debate in Parliament, 16 years ago, was about sixth-form colleges and took place in this room, but that is beside the point. At that time, I described sixth-form colleges as the geese that lay golden eggs; I think she has made that point today. Of course, one other thing that sixth-form colleges do is to bring together young people from different schools and different communities. They are often situated in areas of diversity and they are a tremendous force for social cohesion. Does she accept that point?
Lisa Nandy
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and his expertise on sixth-form colleges is well known; not only does he sit on the governing body of a local sixth-form college but he is chair of the all-party group on sixth-form colleges, which has done so much good work on this issue. I have to say to him that when he was first raising issues about sixth-form colleges in this place, I was actually at a sixth-form college in the constituency of the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall). That shows that nothing changes.
As I was saying, Ministers have accepted that this situation is unfair, so will the Minister take steps to create a level playing field for sixth-form colleges? Will he make this important sector a promise that there are no more of these cuts to come? And will he join me in paying tribute to the extraordinary contribution that sixth-form colleges, such as my local one, make to young people and communities across the country?