The Department for Education is the department in government most resistant to devolving funding for skills and education, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said,
Speaking at the Learning and Work Institute’s Employment and Skills Convention today, Mr Burnham said that now, as the country rebuilds after the coronavirus pandemic, is the time to fully devolve post-16 training and skills policy to the metro mayors.
"The Department of Education is the department which is most resistant to devolution and I can't see the justification for that," he said. "Skills policy is something that this country has never, ever, ever done well. It's a product of two things: one slight snobbery in English education which is we always prioritise the academic route over the vocational route, always has happened on all governments.
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"There are so many hit and miss skills policies on a national level that never landed on the ground. I would just plead with the government: this is the moment to devolve training and skills policy."
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In March 2019, more than £630 million in adult education funds has been given to seven mayoral areas across England, including Greater Manchester.
Since then, mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged the government to devolve the entire post-16 budget.
Mr Burnham said today that skills policy had to be "place-based" because it was critically linked to what "happens on the ground" and that prioritising things nationally would not work for everyone everywhere.
He said: "If [the DfE] had done a brilliant job of technical education over the years, they'd have a case for saying we don't need to devolve, but they haven't, and something different is needed.
"I think devolution allows you to break down the two silos of Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education because both are needed if you're going to be serious about getting people into work. You need to combine the training with the personal support. I would say skills and training is classically something that has to be built from the bottom up, and it's got to link to the real opportunities in the world around us."
Burnham highlighted GMACS, the Greater Manchester Apprenticeship and Careers Service which was launched last autumn. It is a Ucas-style portal that allows prospective learners to apply for apprenticeships and technical education courses.
In a blog for Tes last week, chair of Colleges West Midlands, Lowell Williams, also urged the government to give local authorities the authority and funding to "design their own recovery" to make the most of local opportunities and support the groups that are most vulnerable.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We welcome the work the Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority are taking forward with employers and providers in their regions, to help meet local skills needs. This includes their work with adults through the Adult Education Budget.
“We will be engaging with Mayoral Combined Authorities and the GLA as we develop our proposals ahead of the FE White Paper”.
