We have had an interesting, if not very factually correct, history lesson this evening. I want to bring us back to the question of how we spend £4.7 billion of taxpayers’ money, and the political choices that the Conservative party are making in this Finance Bill. Politics is about priorities, and I would like to talk, as the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) suggested we should, about the future and how we might spend the money differently. For my constituents in Bristol South, and, I think, for the country, the biggest issue in the Budget is productivity. I would like to think that we could use that money for something better, such as technical qualifications, to help to reduce the skills gap in my constituency.
Of all the constituencies in the country, mine sends the smallest number of young people into higher education, and only 24% have a level 4 qualification. For a city that contains two universities and has two more close by, that is scandalous. Because of that, I have followed the apprenticeship levy very closely and supported the Government in its introduction, but the figures are hugely disappointing. Large employers are using the levy to train current executives, and small employers simply do not know how to navigate the system. That has led to the 62% drop-off in apprenticeship starts since last July. It is outrageous that in the Budget, the Chancellor could only give a nod to the apprenticeship levy by saying that he would keep an eye on it, at the same time as deciding to grant the banks a tax giveaway of £4.7 billion.
T-levels have had very little debate in this House since they were announced in October, and they are mentioned only in passing in the Budget. I welcome the Government’s approach to trying to improve technical education as an alternative to the academic option, because it could really help social mobility in my constituency and those of many other hon. Members. The Government have said that T-levels were
“the most ambitious post-16 education reform since the introduction of A-levels”,
but if they are, the current signs are very worrying. Let us compare that £4.7 billion with the sums of money that the Government have committed to T-levels: £60 million in 2018-19, £445 million in 2021-22 and £500 million every year afterwards to ensure that the supposedly hugely ambitious T-levels are a success. However, while the overall investment is welcome, it pales into a rather small figure compared with the other sums we are talking about.
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Further education providers have already raised concerns this year that the figure is not enough, and they are already facing reduced student numbers. They need the money now. In fact, our country needs that money now, because as we heard in the Budget, productivity is one of the greatest problems facing our country. As Lord Sainsbury has said:
“Government, the education sector, industry, LEPs and Combined Authorities now need to put in the necessary resources and effort, and not wait until the last moment”
to do something about this problem.
It is disappointing that the Chancellor simply offered £20 million in staff development training for T-levels, which is in contrast with the £80 million in incentives to get more A-level maths students, for example. There is no clarity on what, where, how or who this will apply to, and there is a real lack of transparency about the process for choosing pathways and providers. So far, the tenders for the 2015 institutes of technology have been delayed, and teaching the first new T-levels has been pushed back to September 2020, with the delay of another year. Only one pathway from each of the three routes is likely to begin by 2020, and most of the providers do not look likely to deliver T-levels until perhaps 2024. After the problems encountered with the apprenticeships levy, which is due to help with our skills gap and to increase productivity in this country, there ought to be a much greater sense of urgency about getting this rolled out and helping FE providers to be prepared.
In conclusion, I would like to know how and when the providers in Bristol South—indeed, I am sure many hon. Members would like to know this about their own constituency—can expect to access additional funding, for which subjects and at what levels so that people are prepared for those qualifications. I want the people of Bristol South to share in the greater prosperity in my city, and indeed in this country. I will support the amendments tabled by our Front Benchers in relation to using this money differently following a review of the bank levy.