HYWEL IN PARLIAMENT: Written Questions
Part-time Education
16th May 2007
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultations he has undertaken since the publication of the Leitch Report with (a) the Open University, (b) Birkbeck College and (c) other institutions on strategies to increase the proportion of those in work who engage in part-time study. [135984]
Bill Rammell: Representatives from all higher education institutions (HEIs) have been invited to participate fully in the programme of national and regional events designed to build consensus around the Leitch challenges. Ministers and officials informally exchange views with a wide range of HEIs on developing HE-level skills within the workforce.
Developing new models of HE that are flexible, relevant and responsive to the needs of employers and learners already in the workforce is at the core of the Department's employer engagement strategy. The Higher Education Funding Council for England has been tasked by the Secretary of State with delivering an additional 5,000 student places co-funded by employers in the financial year 2008-09, with further growth of at least 5,000 places year-on-year for the following two years. These three years will represent a crucial testing ground for exploring how best to increase the proportion of those in the workforce who engage in higher-level study, many of whom will wish to learn on a part-time basis.
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken since the publication of the Leitch Report (a) to increase the number of employees who have access to part-time study in order to gain appropriate qualifications and (b) to engage the support of employers in increasing the access of employees to part-time education. [135985]
Phil Hope: The Leitch Review was published on 5 December 2006 and was welcomed in broad terms by the Chancellor on 6 December. The formal response will be published by the Department, on behalf of the Government, this summer. Since the publication of Lord Leitch’s report the Government have continued to promote their new Train to Gain service to encourage employers to train their people with free training available for the low skilled. As a result 135,860 employees from 36,270 employers are now in learning through part-time, flexibly delivered training.
The Government have already announced the Skills Pledge, another key Leitch recommendation that builds on the model developed in Wales. It will encourage employers to voluntarily commit to train their low skilled employees whether through part-time learning or otherwise. Thus far, 21 Central Government Departments, employing more than 500,000 civil servants, as well as several major employers have already given their commitment to it.