Skills and housing are the two most important issues facing the UK today, former FE and skills minister Robert Halfon has said.

Mr Halfon, speaking to delegates at the Education Britain summit in Manchester today - for which Tes is a media partner - said that Britain was “way behind” in terms of its agenda and that the nation was currently “fighting to just catch up” with other countries.

”Skills are the defining issue facing Britain today - that and housing,” Mr Halfon said. “We are way behind other countries on this. We are fighting just to catch up.”

Ed Sel Com chair Robert Halfon (@halfon4harlowMP) tells #ebsummit17 that “skills are the defining issue facing Britain - that and housing” pic.twitter.com/6zxulFNAo4

- Tes (@tes) October 4, 2017

Mr Halfon, who was named as chair of the education select committee in July, has previously said that the skills deficit UK is “horrifying” and that the government needs to use “rocket boosters” if it is to catch up with other European countries such as Germany and Switzerland.

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