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House of Commons

Thursday 29 April 2004

The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock

PRAYERS

[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]

Oral Answers to Questions

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

The Secretary of State was asked—

Construction Workers

1. Ms Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North) (Lab): What assessment he has made of the supply of skilled construction workers. [169204]

The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): The statutory industrial training board for the construction industry currently forecasts an average annual requirement for 82,000 recruits into the industry in the period 2003 to 2007. The latest survey of new entrants shows around 50,000 individuals entering formal training in 2002–03. Other sources of recruitment are people re-entering the industry and foreign workers. A further group of around 28,000 people already employed in the industry is undertaking on-site assessment and training.

Ms Walley : It is important that we have a new construction college in Burslem in my constituency that will train workers from across the country. Will the Minister take a special interest in how the learning and skills council and Stoke-on-Trent college of further education take that forward, particularly on the need to retrain pottery workers who have been made redundant? Will he take a special interest, too, in how we need local employers to provide local employment if we are to deliver the Government's agenda on new investment in housing and hospitals?

Mr. Miliband: My hon. Friend spoke about the important work of the Burslem centre during the Housing Bill debate on 12 January. I shall certainly take an interest in it and ensure that the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis), looks into it. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) is right that the partnership between employers and the education system holds out real promise of progress.

Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD): Does the Minister agree that the roofing industry is crucial to the construction industry? Is he aware that,
 
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of the 57,000 employees working in that industry, only 8,000 have certification to construction skills certification scheme standards? Is he aware that, of the 352 people who joined modern apprenticeships for roofing last year, 40 per cent. dropped out during their first year? What is he doing to stop people dropping out of modern apprenticeships? What will he do to ensure that people who work in the roofing industry have CSCS certification? Will he hold discussions with the insurance industry to try to ensure that firms that have qualified people get discounts on their massive insurance premiums?

Mr. Miliband: I certainly agree that we cannot have a house building or construction industry without roofing specialists; I think that there will be cross-party agreement on that.

I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman mentioned modern apprenticeships and the 255,000 young people undertaking them. He rightly mentioned the importance of quality in those apprenticeships, which is being taken up through the Learning and Skills Council. It is significant that £325 million of LSC money is supporting construction industry training, in addition to £75 million from the industry itself. That is a good example of the sort of partnership the hon. Gentleman and I both want.

Mr. Ian Davidson (Glasgow, Pollok) (Lab/Co-op): What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that everyone in the construction industry receives appropriate safety training, particularly foreign workers, many of whom do not have an adequate grasp of English and for whom safety notices are therefore meaningless?

Mr. Miliband: It is obviously important that we collaborate with our colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry on this matter, which crosses departmental boundaries. All training must include the health and safety aspects to which my hon. Friend referred and I shall take up his point about literacy and the issues related to it.

Overseas Students

2. Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (Lab): What measures he is taking to encourage higher education institutions to compete effectively for (a) the market for overseas students and (b) the market for students from the Gulf states. [169205]

The Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Charles Clarke): My Department has taken steps to encourage higher education institutions to compete effectively for the market for overseas students through the Prime Minister's initiative to attract more international students to the United Kingdom, including those from the Gulf states. A vigorous worldwide marketing campaign under the brand of Education UK supports that initiative. The number of non-European Union international students studying full-time in UK higher education institutions rose by 23 per cent. on that for the academic year 2001–02, to a total of 174,575 last year. The Prime Minister's initiative
 
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recruitment target of an extra 50,000 international students in higher education by 2004–05 has been achieved well ahead of target.

Huw Irranca-Davies : Having just returned from a visit to the United Arab Emirates, I can assure my right hon. Friend of the high regard in which our higher education institutions are held. He will be aware, however, that there is an immensely competitive market that includes higher education institutions from South Africa, New Zealand and elsewhere that often undercut us on price but cannot maintain our excellent quality. Can he assure me that, in discussions with higher education institutions, he will continue to foster a proactive approach to penetrating the market in the Gulf region? We are doing excellently, but the end-of-term report might say, "Could do better."

Mr. Clarke: I am grateful for that question and I can assure my hon. Friend of our commitment to work in the area. He put his finger on the central point, which is that the quality of the higher education courses we offer gives us such a strong competitive position. He may be interested to know that only last week I had a dialogue with the Minister for the middle east about how we could better promote our universities and education more generally into the whole of the middle east region. We are completely seized of the points that my hon. Friend makes.

Mr. Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con): Non-EU students pay full fees, but every student admitted to higher education from an EU country receives a subsidy of between £6,000 and £16,000 from the British taxpayer. Today it is reported that applications are up 100 per cent. from Cyprus, 200 per cent. from Hungary, 300 per cent. from Slovenia and 365 per cent. from Poland. What will be the cost of that to the British taxpayer?

Mr. Clarke: The hon. Gentleman's attitude is truly extraordinary. The figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service today show that 406,000 applications have been received—that is a 3.1 per cent. increase in applications which, given all the controversy and discussion about our reforms, is a testament to the position—and that there have been increases from applicant countries. I shall set out the figures in the context of the 406,000: Slovakia increased from 23 to 95, the Czech Republic from 54 to 149, Estonia from 17 to 56, Hungary from 37 to 112, Latvia from 19 to 51, Slovenia from 12 to 49, Lithuania from 23 to 60, Cyprus from 712 to 1,458, Malta from 17 to 41 and Poland, the largest of the acceding states, from 95 to 442. Those are tiny figures. The hon. Gentleman's narrow nationalism is deeply appalling. We should be proud of the contribution that our higher education institutions are making to the whole of education throughout the European Union. The hon. Gentleman should be ashamed of himself.

Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the British Council report shows the enormous potential for our country of earning enormous sums, with another 1 million students wanting to come here by 2020, most of them from outside the EU? Is he aware that most
 
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people in the higher education sector believe that we should make plans now to invest more heavily in infrastructure and well-paid academics to make sure that we make the best of it? Even students from within the EU make a profit for the UK, as well as those from outside. Should we not act now to invest in the future and perhaps do more about private-public partnerships?

Mr. Clarke: My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. As an illustration, just today the figures published show a 50 per cent. increase in applications from the United States. There is a massive interest in this country to have students coming and studying here and a massive opportunity for our students to go and study in other countries throughout the world. We should take pride in the fact that our higher education institutions and the English language give us a competitive advantage and we should seek to build on that for all the economic reasons that my hon. Friend described. The petty nationalism of the Tory party is utterly deplorable.

Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire) (Con): Of the 175,000 students to whom the Secretary of State referred, how many go to the Russell group?

Mr. Clarke: I do not have the figures to hand, but a lot do. Many universities right across the range are substantially developing their work internationally. The hon. Gentleman may have read recent reports about the university of Nottingham, which is part of the Russell group, establishing a campus in China precisely to support work of this kind. Throughout our university sector there is a strong commitment to achieve that. It is something to be applauded—as most rational Tory Members will do—not denigrated.

David Cairns (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): May I tell my right hon. Friend about the success of James Watt college in my constituency in attracting large numbers of students from the middle east and the Gulf states, primarily by focusing on engineering-based courses which are in great demand there? Given that he has mentioned the British Council and the Foreign Office, can he ensure that his Department works closely with the relevant Scottish Education Ministers and the Scottish Executive so that every university and higher education college throughout the United Kingdom can benefit from the competitive advantages that he mentioned.

Mr. Clarke: I can absolutely give that assurance, and I can add that many Scottish universities are outstanding in that field. Their reputation is strong for reasons of history and academic quality. Some of the marketing that they have pursued in working with the Scottish Executive achieves that end, but I believe—and I have discussed the matter with colleagues on the Executive—that a joint effort can maximise our impact internationally. That is what we are very keen to do.

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