Education

Seema Malhotra Excerpts

Thursday 29th February 2024 Ministerial Corrections

[Gillian Keegan]

… As I said in answer to the earlier question, there is a golden thread of high-quality teacher training reforms. We will be looking at a revised framework and working with providers so that they can ensure that the contracts deliver the very best support for teachers. What will be vital, and something that Members will feel, is the addition of up to 7,000 early years SENCOs that will be trained in the coming years.

Degree-level Apprenticeships

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

Next week is National Apprenticeship Week, and I look forward to celebrating apprenticeships across the country. As the Secretary of State knows, small and medium-sized enterprises are crucial to delivering high-quality apprenticeships at every level throughout our economy, but the number of SME apprenticeships has plummeted by 49% since 2016, and research shows that the levy is failing to reverse the decline in employer training more widely. The Secretary of State pretends that everything is fine, but is not the real answer to back our businesses, giving them greater flexibility to enable them to deliver the training that we need to get our economy growing again?