Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of whether current further education funding levels are sufficient to support the Government’s target of training an additional 60,000 construction workers; and what estimate she has made of the number of prospective construction students turned away from further education colleges due to staffing, funding or facilities constraints in the last 12 months.

The department’s construction skills package will expand training routes in construction courses, improve the quality of the training offer, and bridge the gap between industry and training to deliver the additional 60,000 skilled construction workers across this Parliament, alongside the industry commitment of additional 100,000 skilled recruits per year.

We are providing nearly £9 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding in the 2026/27 academic year. This includes making a high value courses premium for construction available as additional funding to encourage and support delivery of selected substantial Level 2 and Level 3 study programmes and T Levels to support an increase in skilled construction workers.

We are investing £120 million to support ten construction technical excellence colleges (CTECs) across England, ensuring high-quality training that meets employer needs and helps learners succeed. The government is investing £195 million in total, including £95 million of the CTEC funding, to give colleges the space and facilities to train the next generation of construction workers as part of the Construction Skills Package.