Further Education Funding

Speech by Peter Black delivered to Plenary on Wed 18th Jun 2008

Peter Black: I will start by summing up the main thrust of the argument that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have put forward today. On the whole education agenda, from early years to adult learning, the Welsh Assembly Government has lost control of education funding. The fact that this has fallen off the priority list of the One Wales Government has been illustrated and underlined today by the fact that not a single Labour backbencher has felt able to contribute to this debate. That is shocking, given the emphasis that many in the Chamber have put on education and skills in the past.

The need to see investment in education as a long-term investment in the future of Welsh society and the economy is paramount in our view, and should be paramount in the view of the One Wales Government. During the debate, many speakers underlined and supported that particular view. David Melding talked about the need for a demand-led skills strategy-the two strands of which were learners and employers. I agree with him that we need to provide resources to deliver that. David stressed the need to drive up the level of skills. Again, he is right that we must help small and medium-sized enterprises and microbusinesses to access training.

Eleanor Burnham said that we should encourage creativity and allow people to dip in and out of education. She highlighted the value of further education in providing vocational alternatives for excluded pupils. The Deputy Minister made that point during his earlier statement, yet there is no point in relying on further education to fill the gap in vocational provision for 14 to 19-year-olds if you are not funding the colleges adequately.

Janet Ryder highlighted problems in the funding mechanism, particularly with regard to community education. Nick Ramsay also addressed funding and the real-terms cut faced by the further education sector. Jenny Randerson referred to the shortfall in capital investment. She drew attention to the fact that we are only spending £27 million this year, compared with £31 million in 1994-95. She estimated that, pro rata, we should be spending between £48 million and £51 million this year and quoted Sir Adrian Webb in support of that argument. She also highlighted the issue of pay and the fact that colleges are not being funded to meet the demands being put upon them. There is a funding gap of £3.5 million.

Carl Sargeant stood up and asked about funding. I think that there a number of reasons for that. In fact, the Deputy Minister indicated where some funding might come from, although he did not make a commitment that that money would actually go into further education. I will give just one example on funding: you can see what is happening in Scotland, where the Scottish Futures Trust initiative is aiming to release up to £150 million each year for increased investment in infrastructure, through greater partnership, improved preparation and the handling of projects and getting best value from finance. That is just one example of how you might be able to find more money for capital, in particular.

John Griffiths accused us of defending the Conservative record. On the contrary; we were highlighting the fact that this Government's record is worse than the Conservative record. It gives me no great pleasure to say that, but those are the facts.

Mark Isherwood: Will you confirm that the widening participation agenda was launched by the last Conservative Government and that participation grew every year until the beginning of the second Assembly-I concede that you were in partnership during the first Assembly-after which narrowing participation grew on the back of core funding cuts in real terms under the last Labour Assembly Government?

Peter Black: As ever, Mark, I need to check the facts that you give when you stand in Plenary. I will certainly look at that matter.

Returning to the debate, I will make one more point about the contributions made by other Members. John Griffiths referred to the value of apprenticeships, and I think that we all agree with him that it is necessary that we invest in them. However, it is all very well to say that we need apprentices, but the question is: where will they be trained? Are you going to train them in buildings that are falling down? That is the reality facing many FE colleges today.

A number of issues need to be addressed in the further education sector, and we hope that that comes out in this debate and that the Government takes it on board. We need to be constructive about the way forward, and there is certainly a need for a common approach to measuring quality, collecting data, and defining retention and achievement, in which the development of partnerships and the raising of skills levels is central.

John Griffiths: On being constructive, it is important that we take a reality check on some of the things being said. You talk about delivering apprentice training in crumbling buildings, but if you were to travel around Wales, like I do, to see all the newly constructed facilities being opened right across the country-north, west, south and east-I think that you would have something different to say.

Peter Black: I am not detracting from the value of the new construction that has taken place, John, but the fact is that Sir Adrian Webb identified a gap of £200 million in the capital investment needed in further education. Despite the work that has been done, there is not enough money in the system, as has already been illustrated-the gap that exists has been highlighted by the professionals. In fact, a review that your Government commissioned shows that you are not doing enough; that is the point that we are making.

Eleanor Burnham: Will you take an intervention?

Peter Black: I want to get on, Eleanor. I am running out of time, and I want to make an important point about the funding system. The Welsh Assembly Government has many policies on education and further education, but if you do not have a funding system in place that can deliver on those aspirations, I am afraid that you are just whistling in the dark. You want partnerships between schools and colleges, but that is not helped when you reward colleges for growth in the 16 to 18-year-old sector and penalise schools. It is not helped when you do not give real-terms increases to FE colleges and somehow expect them to deliver on the vocational agenda that you referred to in your statement on skills, Deputy Minister. A great deal more needs to be done, but if you do have these aspirations, you need to start putting your money where your mouth is.

Eleanor, I will take an intervention now.

Eleanor Burnham: Is it not rather perverse, Peter, in the aftermath of the launch of an important new part of Yale College only a few weeks ago, which highlighted a specific aspect of its apprenticeship schemes, that the college is now suddenly losing 23 senior managers?

Peter Black: Thank you for that point, Eleanor-you make my point for me. That point has also been made by Jenny Randerson today.

On funding, we need more stability to enable financial forecasts to be more meaningful and relevant, and some guarantees of long-term funding are also needed.

Finally, we also need recognition of the importance of self-regulation in raising quality. The Welsh Liberal Democrats highly value the further education sector, as we value the whole education sector, from crib to grave. Schools, FE colleges and higher education colleges are all needed, as is investment in skills and workplace training and vocational training, in order for Wales to improve and develop as a successful economy. However, if we do not invest in that and do not make it a Welsh Assembly Government priority, we will fail again in terms of achieving those aspirations.