Westminster watchers with a penchant for all things educational could be forgiven for squealing with excitement about the new incarnation of the House of Commons Education Select Committee and what it will hold in the coming months. For at the helm is none other than spurned apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfon. But will the amiable Harlow MP be more preoccupied with getting one over his former boss, Justine Greening, or covering his tracks when it comes to the ongoing apprenticeships and adult education budget procurement chaos at Sanctuary Buildings?

The first meeting of the new committee members took place on Tuesday, after the long-awaited announcement was made about the Tory MPs who will join the happy little band: step forward Lucy Allan, Michelle Donelan, Trudy Harrison and William Wragg.

Anyone waiting for an early big hit on FE from the sector’s former minister may be disappointed. FErret understands that apprenticeships aficionado Halfon is rather more keen to focus on other parts of the education sector, initially at least, to prove that he’s no one-trick pony. Watch out for an early piece of work on the complex world of alternative provision.

But with FE now centre stage within the Department for Education, it’s unlikely to be long before Halfon returns to the sector he was once responsible for. And the quality of apprenticeship provision across colleges and independent providers is likely to be near the top of the committee’s to-do list, with an inquiry not likely to be too far away.

Expect concerns about subcontracting - and the resulting loss of funding from frontline provision and murky line of accountability - to appear high up on the agenda, more than likely involving one or two of Halfon’s trademark “ladders of opportunity” along the way.

Just remember, you read it here first. Love, Mystic FErret.

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