Waveney MP Peter Aldous discusses concerns of colleges and apprenticeship providers at Norwich roundtable.

Inflation and spiralling energy bills mean post-16 education providers are having to work with “one arm tied behind their back,” Waveney MP Peter Aldous has said during a roundtable meeting with East Anglian colleges and apprenticeship providers.

Mr Aldous met with around 20 college principals, training provider chief executives, and business representatives at The Halls in Norwich on Wednesday to discuss the topic, Meeting Britain's skills needs in a post-Brexit, post-Pandemic world.

Opening the session, Mr Aldous, who chairs a cross-party group of MPs and peers focused on further education and lifelong learning, said: “It’s investment in flesh and blood rather than investment in concrete and steel that is often most important.”

However, colleges and training providers had, he said, “been asked to do a lot with one arm tied behind their back”.

He said a “good start” had been made on reforming the education system – after Skills and Post-16 Education Bill was passed into law earlier this year – but: “We still have this productivity gap in the UK and skills have a vital role to play in eliminating that.”

Conservative prime ministerial candidate Liz Truss MP has previously criticised a perceived lower rate of productivity outside of London and the south-east of England.

Mr Aldous cited multiple energy infrastructure projects local to Norfolk and Suffolk where skilled workers will be needed, including:

· The counties’ wind farms, which account for half the UK’s offshore wind fleet

· Sizewell C nuclear plant, which Boris Johnson announced this week the government would take a stake in

· The development of widely available hydrogen power

Energy bill increases of over 50 per cent could close education providers

One of the key concerns which the attendees raised during the roundtable was around utility bills.

The leader of one local college reported prices for energy had gotten “that bad” that “places could go bust, but it’s way out of our control”.

One provider has budgeted for a 50 per cent increase in their energy bills, which they had “never done” before, and it is “already looking like a waste of time” to base their planning on that figure.

“The cost-of-living crisis impacts on everyone and every organisation,” Mr Aldous replied. “It’s become very clear there has got to be a focus on colleges, small businesses, and charities. Otherwise, the whole edifice will come crumbling down.”

Apprenticeship system ‘not working in top gear’

Attendees rounded on the government’s apprenticeship levy system, where large employers fund apprenticeships through a mandatory tax based on their payroll.

The chief executive of an organisation which offers careers support for young people told the roundtable that employers who pay the levy had put forward their existing employees for training, rather than using the money to bring on new employees at lower levels.

Mr Aldous concurred, saying: “It’s quite clear the levy is not working in top gear. It’s benefitting those young people who are already with employers, and it is not providing work entry opportunities.

“To get rid of it would be the wrong approach,” he added, but said a review promised in the last Spring Statement by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak should focus on reducing administrative costs, bringing in new employees, helping growing sectors such as green and nuclear energy, and supporting progression.

One attendee from an apprenticeship provider contended that the levy had been “transformational” for their sector but the funding they received had not kept up with inflation and the provider was having to increasingly charge employers extra to train their apprentices.

One of their employers has now decided to move away from apprenticeships as they were not “commercially viable” anymore.

Criticism was directed at the government’s flagship new T Level qualification which are equivalent to A-levels, focus on specific career paths, and are set to replace the popular BTEC courses which many colleges run.

One attendee highlighted that a “lot of our learners are not able to do T Levels, and we are cutting out their opportunities” to transition from school to employment.

“BTECs are a different assessment to T Levels and they genuinely work,” one principal told the roundtable.

How have employers helped us understand what skills they need, asks one college boss

The leader of a local further education college said the government needed to give clearer direction for how employers should use their apprenticeship funding.

The government’s recent Skills and Post-16 Education Act is pushing colleges to align the education they provide with the needs of local employers.

However, the principal said the issue was with the employers more than the teachers: “Employers have come to me and said, ‘you’re not producing young people with the right skills’.”

But the principal said he has asked the employers, “How have you helped us understand what the right skills are? How have you provided young people with work experience opportunities?”

Another principal highlighted to attendees that young people could earn £11 an hour in hospitality jobs but are expected to give those up and earn the £4.81 apprenticeship minimum wage.

One attendee, whose organisation educates and supports adults with learning difficulties, pushed for the government to remember those adults studying at a more basic level as well as trying those training to find employment.

“We have people who turn up – physically ill and not knowing the difference between a £5 note and a £10 note,” they explained. “They don’t know what it means if a bill goes up 80 per cent because they don’t have maths skills.

“If you take away the social, mental health aspects which adult community learning delivers and only concentrate on skills at A-level and above, in Norfolk and Suffolk you will discount a very large percentage of the population whose literacy and numeracy skills are very low.”

Speaking after the event, Peter Aldous MP said:

“It was incredibly interesting to hear the different views from providers which are delivering training from entry-level to degree-level and across the spectrum of different subjects and qualifications.

“It has certainly given me a lot of issues to discuss with the next Prime Minister and education secretary as well as colleagues in Parliament.

“Events like this provide a great opportunity to put politicians in touch with those on the front-line of public service delivery, so my thanks to Grade Communications.”

Grade Communications managing director William Walter commented:

“The event was a tremendous success, and we are very proud to have helped the dialogue between a MP leading on the education debate, such as Peter Aldous, and a range of expert providers from across East Anglia.

“The event threw a harsh spotlight on the challenges which educators across the region are facing and it was great to see Peter engage so wholeheartedly with what the different college principals and provider chief executives had to say.

“Our thanks to Peter and all the attendees for making the roundtable a success.”