This week was ‘College’s Week’, an annual celebration of Further Education (FE) Colleges where their contribution to local students and businesses is recognised.
On this occasion, College’s Week felt particularly significant given Keir Starmer’s recent announcements regarding FE and apprenticeships. At the Labour Party’s annual conference, Keir committed to developing Technical Excellence Colleges, enabling local government to work hand-in-hand with local businesses and employers to align skills and training provision with local need.
Existing FE Colleges will be supported to respond to locally agreed skills plans, working to ensure employers can source more of the skilled workers they need from local communities. The establishment of Skills England will bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade.
Boosting Britain’s skills will be a national mission for Labour: more training opportunities so people can gain new skills, access better jobs and grow our economy. That is the difference that a Labour government will make.
In addition, the Apprenticeship Levy will be reformed into a Growth and Skills Levy so it can be used on a greater range of training courses, giving businesses the flexibility they need to retrain and upskill their existing workforce as well as creating more opportunities for young people.
Raising the ambition we have for the next generation could not be more crucial. Over the last decade, the Conservatives have let down students and colleges, overseeing a decline in skills and training opportunities have disappeared.
On their watch, apprenticeship starts have fallen by over 200,000, real terms funding for the FE sector has fallen to record lows, and vital decision-making powers have been taken away from local communities. In Suffolk, there are now 500 fewer apprentice starts than there were just five years ago.
After years of sticking plasters and hollow promises, it is time to start valuing FE and apprenticeships properly – Labour’s plan will provide the renewal we need.
Wednesday also marked my birthday, and in the evening I hosted a fundraising dinner with my friend, Jess Asato, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Lowestoft.
Combining our dinner with College’s Week, we were looked after by Suffolk New College’s exceptionally talented students at Chefs’ Whites restaurant. We were treated to an incredible three-course meal, with both the cooking and the service exemplary. If, like me, you have worked in a restaurant, you know it is a rewarding, but demanding profession, yet the students took it completely in their stride.
Jess and I were joined by 100 people from across East Anglia, with many visiting Chefs’ Whites for the first time. They all commented about how brilliant the food was, and how impressed they were with the restaurant and the students that ran it. I am incredibly proud to have Chefs’ Whites – and Suffolk New College – in Ipswich, and I know Alan Pease, Principal and CEO, and Mike Mulvihill, Director of Service Industries, are both incredibly proud of their students too.
As well as hosting private functions like ours, Chefs’ Whites puts on a number of themed events and opens for lunch and dinner during the week. If you haven’t been before I would urge you to do so – you won’t be disappointed!
There is such energy, dedication and talent simmering away in Ipswich and in Suffolk, so it is crucial that this is harnessed and encouraged, that we remove the barriers to learning and development, and that we provide young people with the support and opportunities so they can fulfill their potential. I may be another year older, but the next generation coming through makes me so positive for the future.