Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that vocational and adult education programmes are aligned with employment opportunities that are less vulnerable to (a) offshoring and (b) becoming replaced by AI.

The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and support the development of a skilled workforce in England.

This is backed by additional investment, as announced in the Spending Review, of £1.2 billion per year in skills by 2028-29. This will support the wide range of technical routes available across England in a broad range of sectors.

We are also widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, including new foundation apprenticeships, which will give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working life.

We are targeting key growth sectors, including those identified in the Industrial Strategy, with specific skills plans to boost training in areas such as construction, manufacturing, defence and Digital and Technology.

All of this will be underpinned by the work of Skills England, which has been established as the national body responsible for identifying skills needs, simplifying the skills system, and aligning training to meet demand.