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Mr. Blunkett: I shall try to answer all three of the right hon. Gentleman's questions. On the last question, we announced a record increase in further education funding--an unprecedented 8.2 per cent. increase--in this year's Budget. My answer to his middle question is no,
I cannot. I have no idea about that technology college. However, I will write to him about that matter. As to his first question, he is right: there is a very real problem both in the transition from school to post-16 education for children with special educational needs and with the failure to transfer the statement. We must solve that problem and create a new emphasis, through the funding arrangements, to make that possible.
Mr. John Healey (Wentworth): The prospect ofgreater clarity, coherence and co-ordination of post-16 arrangements is long overdue and very welcome, as is the promise of a large input from local employers into the learning and skills councils. Can my right hon. Friend reassure other local agencies with a detailed knowledge of local labour markets and skills needs--I am thinking of training and enterprise councils, councils and the Employment Service--that their views will be taken into account by the councils as they plan and contract for the services?
Mr. Blunkett: All those engaged in the learning partnerships will be crucial to making the measure work, and their voices will be heard. The training and enterprise councils will obviously be merged into the new structure, as will the Further Education Funding Council. However, those who have given of their time and energy will be key to ensuring that there is the continuity that my hon. Friend seeks in terms of both economic development and labour market needs and concentrating and focusing on what has been lost in recent years: the skills needs of tomorrow.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West): Given the importance of schools in delivering post-16 education, and in view of the statistics that the Secretary of State released last week in order to name and shame local education authorities, does he not now regret the emphasis that he placed on local education authorities in his School Standards and Framework Act 1998? Does he now regret placing back under LEA control so many schools that had escaped the dead hand of local education authority supervision?
Mr. Blunkett: First, the question has no bearing whatsoever on the White Paper. Secondly, I had an interesting experience this time last week, and it was not the local authorities saying that they loved the School Standards and Framework Act, under which I was acting. The hon. Gentleman should go back to the drawing board and do a little more homework.
Mrs. Christine Butler (Castle Point): I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his statement, which the sixth-form college in my constituency will broadly welcome. It is appropriate to warn Opposition Members that if they were listening, instead of reading the odd item in the newspaper, they would appreciate that almost every provider of post-16 education is saying, with the same affirmative voice, "Well done. This is just what we wanted."
There has been a disparity of almost 30 per cent. between post-16 provision in schools and in colleges. That needs to be addressed. Will my right hon. Friend tell us when he thinks the same level of funding will be available for all post 16-year-olds? Will he advise us whether the careers service will be incorporated into the new body, and whether that body will be able to tackle post-19 education to fulfil lifelong learning?
Mr. Blunkett:
On the second part of my hon. Friend's question, the careers service will form the core of the new service for young people. Of course, that will also dovetail and develop with the adult guidance service--this relates to the question asked by the Liberal Democrat spokesman, the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster)--so that we have a seamless provision for people across the board. I welcome my hon. Friend's question. I cannot say how long it will take to equalise funding for particular courses, but I can guarantee that it will be done as quickly as possible, given the negotiations that I shall, no doubt, be having with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the months and years to come.
Mr. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West):
My hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) urged the Secretary of State to seek to preserve the best and improve the rest. He will know that school sixth forms in my constituency deliver some of the best post-16 education in the country. Will he reassure them that he bears no malice to school sixth forms by guaranteeing that capital and revenue funding will remain available for the expansion of existing sixth forms in schools and for the establishment of new sixth forms in schools on exactly the same terms as it will be available for the expansion of further education colleges?
Mr. Blunkett:
I made it absolutely clear that we intend to expand all sectors of the post-16 arena. We want to do so on the basis of need and demand. If there is a demand for additional sixth-form places, we will meet it and we shall do so on the basis of the commitments that we have already made. I want to put on record once again that this is not an ideological decision. For the past two years, we have been making decisions on the basis of meeting that need. Sixty per cent. of youngsters between 16 and 19 in full-time education are not in sixth forms, but 40 per cent. are, and that 40 per cent. matter as much to us as they do to Opposition Members.
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield):
My right hon. Friend will know that this statement could represent a new beginning for this sector of education. He will be aware, as I am, that any judgment made will be on the basis of the quality of education and training delivered to young people. Does he know that many employers will be thankful for his announcement because for a long time they have been putting their energy and work into training and enterprise councils, and then having all their efforts dashed by the diktat from a Department run by the previous Administration that pushed them into cheap, quick, low-value training? This new beginning will be based on the quality that we shall provide in the coming years.
Mr. Blunkett:
I am very pleased to say yes.
Miss Melanie Johnson (Welwyn Hatfield):
While recognising the very many flaws in the present system and the waste and inefficiency, my right hon. Friend also recognised in his comments the good practice that exists in some areas and in some pockets. I am thinking especially of Hertfordshire training and enterprise council, which covers my constituency and those of a number of my hon. Friends. Will my right hon. Friend comment on how good practice will be secured by the developments in the White Paper?
Mr. Blunkett:
We wish to build on excellence wherever it is. Some excellent work is going on through training and enterprise councils. We wish to ensure that we secure it and build on it. I shall say exactly that at the TEC national council conference tomorrow.
Mr. Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield):
I welcome my right hon. Friend's statement, especially what he said about locating the councils at sub-regional level, which makes a great deal of sense. I welcome what he said about the need for national targets, but I put it to him that it is vital that the new structure is flexible, building on the partnerships that already exist in many areas, linking with the Small Business Service and, crucially, with the regional development agency network. Will he say a little more about how the new structure will show such flexibility?
Mr. Blunkett:
It will be possible to have flexibility within the new structure, enabling the learning and skills councils at local level, with the national training organisations and the regional development agencies, to plan what is right for their region and their sectors, so that there is much greater synergy between what is required locally and what is deliverable in terms of the funding tariffs, the contracting system and the available funds. This is a real opportunity for people to get it right in their locality.
Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone):
I welcome my right hon. Friend's statement. He will be aware that the Conservatives never really understood the apprenticeship scheme, which is why they destroyed it in the 1980s. Will he ensure that the national learning and skills council promotes the national apprenticeship scheme as an alternative career structure and that, at the same time, opportunities are extended to join the national apprenticeship scheme?
Mr. Blunkett:
Wholeheartedly I can. The Small Business Service will also help promote to small businesses that have not necessarily become aware of the opportunity of modern apprenticeships this high-level, high-quality opportunity to give young people real skills and hands-on experience for the future.
Barbara Follett (Stevenage):
Given the enormous contribution made by further education colleges, such as the North Hertfordshire college in Stevenage, to their local communities, will some of their representatives be given the opportunity to serve on the new sub-regional skills bodies?
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