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Sustainable Development Education

4. Mr. David Kidney (Stafford) (Lab): What support the Department gives to schools for the pursuit of sustainable development education. [217629]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Derek Twigg): Sustainable development runs through our key policies, for example promoting health, physical activity and well-being, encouraging pupil participation and volunteering, improving transport and estate management and the building schools for the future programme. It is also a statutory part of science, design and technology, geography and citizenship. We provide funding, information, resources and other support, including specifically for sustainable development aspects.

Mr. Kidney: Is my hon. Friend aware of Staffordshire's great success in sustainable development
 
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education, as shown by the many schools that achieved the status of eco school? Will he confirm that it is the Government's ambition that every school in the country will be eco friendly? Will he assure hon. Members that the Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are working hard to ensure that sustainable development is a substantial element in every child's learning experience?

Derek Twigg: I can confirm that DEFRA and the Department are working together and holding regular discussions. I congratulate my hon. Friend on his work in Staffordshire and his commitment to the issue. As he knows, all schools can register free with Eco Schools, which is one of several schemes that are available to schools. We want schools to assess what aspects of sustainability they wish to tackle, according to the circumstances and needs of pupils, parents and the local community. That is why a web-based service to offer schools a framework for making those choices and provide information on a wide range of schemes, awards, resources and support is available. It will be widely publicised to encourage schools to become more active on sustainable development and we have a five-year strategy for all schools to be environmentally sustainable.

Mr. Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford) (Con): Does sustainable development, as defined in the curriculum, include building on the green belt? If not, would the Under-Secretary like to invite the Deputy Prime Minister to attend one of his classes?

Derek Twigg: We are committed to much more building on brownfield sites. The building schools for the future programme is considering how the way in which schools are built can be environmentally sustainable. We have already done a pilot on that. However, it is worth reminding hon. Members that we are doing a great deal on sustainable development. We have put in place advice and a new global gateway for a website. As I said, building schools for the future is a big programme. We have also set up the healthy living briefing for schools and initiatives on school transport and school leadership. We are doing whatever we can to ensure the best sustainable development in education.

Vocational Education

5. Mr. Graham Allen (Nottingham, North) (Lab): If she will make a statement on financial co-operation between local education authorities, the Learning and Skills Council and further education colleges in implementing in Nottingham the Government's 14 to19 strategy for vocational education. [217630]

10. Syd Rapson (Portsmouth, North) (Lab): What plans she has to increase the take-up of vocational training in schools and colleges. [217636]

The Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Ruth Kelly): Yesterday, I placed before the House the Command Paper "14 to 19 Education and Skills". That should lead directly to an increase in the number of young people undertaking vocational education and training. To deliver the radical proposals in the White
 
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Paper, we expect local partners to co-operate in planning and funding to ensure breadth of provision and highest quality and value for money, without disrupting core funding systems or increasing bureaucracy. Nottingham provides an excellent model.

Mr. Allen: Does the Secretary of State accept that my constituency will be the test of the White Paper on 14 to 19-year-olds because it sends the fewest youngsters to university and further education? Will she therefore ensure that the bureaucratic interlocking of the various organisations—the local education authority, the Learning and Skills Council and many others—which produces less progress than we would like, is tackled in the aftermath of the White Paper? Will she examine the good example of Sure Start, which my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards was instrumental in promoting? It had a dedicated capital fund, a dedicated revenue fund and everybody knew their exact responsibilities. That is the way to get more youngsters into FE.

Ruth Kelly: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's work in championing the needs of young people in his constituency. He has raised the matter with not only me but my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards. He is right to draw attention to the need for the Learning and Skills Council and local authorities to work together to overcome any financial barriers to providing integrated education for 14 to 19-year-olds. One way of achieving that would be through a flexible funding pot for the Learning and Skills Council to facilitate collaboration. We shall revert to that proposal shortly and set out the details of how it might work.

Syd Rapson: I, too, welcome the White Paper, which was published this week, especially its promise of new vocational routes to success. I have spent a lifetime encouraging people into engineering. Will the Government give support specifically to women entering into engineering and following that vocational route to success? That would tap an untapped group of people who are central to the country's future.

Ruth Kelly: I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. Yesterday, I met some young women and girls in the 14 to 19-year-old age group who were studying engineering. It is important that girls are given that opportunity. The Equal Opportunities Commission is currently considering gender segregation, and is due to report in March. I believe that one of the occupational sectors that it will consider is engineering. We will study its proposals carefully to see whether we can take them forward.

Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD): The hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) raised a key issue about 14 to 19 development funding. Does the Secretary of State agree that without harmonisation of the funding units for the same delivery of a programme in a school and a college, we will not get the sort of co-operation that he wants? Does she also agree that unless we can bring together the pay rates and conditions of service for teachers and lecturers, again we will not be able to get that sort of co-operation? What plans does she have to deal with those two issues?

Ruth Kelly: Those are indeed important issues. I am glad that the Liberal Democrats have now committed
 
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themselves to parity between further education lecturers and teachers. We must overcome the barriers involved in delivering that. The real test is whether it can work in practice and whether it does work. The answer is that it does. In places such as Knowsley, local authorities and the Learning and Skills Council are working together to deliver really innovative programmes for young people, making a success and widening opportunities right across the board.

Mr. Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con): When the Education and Skills Committee took evidence on the Tomlinson review, we were told that vocational courses would just be a taster and would not involve genuine training in any particular skill. Will she reject that superficial approach and ensure that all vocational courses provide high-quality, useful training that leaves students with a genuine, marketable skill?

Ruth Kelly: I can make that commitment. It is very important that students are able to study in the ways that motivate them in the places that motivate them. For example, if a student is taking a catering course, it is not right that they just learn about applied catering theory; it is right that they learn how to cook in a kitchen, taught by a chef. That is exactly the sort of course that I would like to see offered and made available to all our students.

Mr. David Chaytor (Bury, North) (Lab): Is there not a wider national issue relating to the role of the learning and skills councils? Is the Secretary of State absolutely confident that the strategic planning responsibilities that she has given to the learning and skills councils are always consistent with the prospect of 200 new academies and the autonomy that they have, the move to 3,000 foundation schools and the autonomy that they have, and the encouragement of all 11 to 16 schools to open new sixth forms?

Ruth Kelly: I am committed to collaborative working between different schools and FE colleges and indeed employers and the voluntary sector where that is necessary. I foresee the Learning and Skills Council and local authorities coming together to offer a joint prospectus of opportunities available to all our young people from the ages of 14 to 19, and that that will be backed up by coherent information, advice and guidance to make sure that students take the right courses and that their options are not narrowed down too quickly, so that they have the opportunity to switch course later as they mix the academic and the vocational. My hon. Friend is right that there are challenges and we will need extra money to oil the wheels of collaboration. I will set out in due course how we intend to develop that model.

Mr. Mark Hoban (Fareham) (Con): Today's young people cannot wait for the full roll-out of the national diploma in a decade. We are committed to creating 300,000 vocational education places for today's 14 to 16-year-olds. What measures will the Government take to make sure that vocational education is a reality for today's 14 to 16-year-olds?

Ruth Kelly: I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has drawn attention to the policy of the Conservative party.
 
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Yesterday, that was strangely absent—there was not one mention from the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Collins) about its policy to cap the funding available for vocational courses for all our 14 to 19-year-olds. We intend to make provision available across the board. There will be no cap on opportunity and no cap on aspiration. Four of the specialised lines will be available by 2008 if not before. Some are already being developed and will be on-stream over the next year or so. Over the decade, we will raise the participation rate from 75 per cent. to 90 per cent. to be one of the best in the industrialised world.

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