In the current political climate, it seems there is very little for people to agree on. Apart from, it seems, the college sector’s need for more funding. For a good three hours last night, on a day when they could not have been blamed for focusing on the Brexit debates going on elsewhere in Parliament, MP after MP got up and spoke passionately about the importance of FE.
They had been well briefed - both by the principals of their local colleges, who they will in most cases have long-standing relationships with, and by national representatives, like the Sixth Form Colleges Association and the Association of Colleges, both of which were cited repeatedly.
Praising their local providers for the work they do under very difficult financial circumstances, the MPs went on to highlight, over and over again, the dramatic statistics that those working in the sector have grown all to familiar with: around 25,000 staff have left the sector; the IFS believes the FE sector has been hardest hit by cuts; adult education has been cut by 45 per cent since 2009-10; funding for college students is £1,500 per student less than in secondary school.
Colleges had reached breaking point, they told skills minister Anne Milton, and had cut courses, increased class sizes and reduced staff numbers. So far, so good. It was, in many ways, something the FE sector has been sorely missing - a few hours in the spotlight.
But what about more funding for colleges?
But that, sadly, isn’t the entire story - because the point of the debate was not to highlight the serious challenges the sector is facing, due to its ever-tighter financial situation. Or at least it wasn’t just that. The longer-term goal, and the purpose of the petition that led to the debate in the first place, is more funding for FE. And this would have been reasonably straightforward in lobbying terms if there had been a minister who needed to be persuaded.
At least a dozen MPs praised Milton for her commitment to FE - and I believe her warm words about the sector come from the right place. She stressed again after the debate - and I believe her - that she cares deeply about the college sector and the opportunities it can provide. But I also noticed, as will have everyone else, that she made no promises or commitments on actual, real, hard cash.
This morning, one college expert made a passing remark that the debate would have been more useful had the room been full of Treasury ministers and civil servants - and he is undoubtedly right. Because a room full of supporters of FE, telling each other what a great sector the UK college sector is, doesn’t solve the funding crisis. Nice as it was, it might not even get us any closer. I want to share David Hughes’ optimism and belief that the right people have started listening. And I am the first to admit that when it comes down to it, I am a pessimist and a bit of a glass-half-empty sort of person.
But I have been having a recurring nightmare that after campaigns, and protests, and debates in Parliament and trending on Twitter, and a minister who really actually cares, we could still be waiting in vain for that crucial announcement in the Spending Review. I really, really hope I am wrong.
Julia Belgutay is Tes’ deputy FE editor
