The Conservative government‘s failures on further education are leading to rising vacancies in key industries such as health and care, while the number of FE students in these subjects is declining, the Labour Party has said.
New data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today reveals that there were 133,000 vacancies in health and social work from February to April this year, while information and communication industries had 41,000 vacancies. The health sector, in particular, has seen vacancies more than double from the same quarter in 2011.
Labour analysis shows that the number of students in these subjects is declining, with healthcare apprentice numbers falling by over 50,000 since 2015 and overall health and care further education student numbers falling by over 153,000 in the past three years. Meanwhile, the number of communication technology students, by comparison, fell by over 52,000 during the same period.
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Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said the “Conservatives’ failures on education are translating into serious skills shortages across our public services and economy”.
“As vacancies within crucial services such as NHS and social care have risen, student numbers have declined,” she said. “The government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and apprenticeships incentive are compounding this failure, excluding millions of jobs and failing to create the opportunities our country needs.
“Labour is calling for ministers to put skills and further education at the heart of our pandemic recovery with an apprenticeship wage subsidy and jobs promise to give opportunities to every young person.”
The skills and post-16 bill and Labour’s alternative plans
The warning comes hours after the skills and post-16 bill was formally presented to Parliament. The bill includes the prime minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, and also makes it a legal requirement for employers and colleges to collaborate and develop skills plans so the training on offer meets the need of local areas. It will also give every adult access to a flexible loan for higher-level education and training at university or college, usable at any point in their lives.
Labour are proposing a “jobs promise”, which would provide quality training, education or employment opportunities for young people who have been out of work, education or training for six months. The party says its plan for a green economic recovery would create 400,000 secure jobs in low-carbon industries across the country, such as steel and the automotive industry, creating new employment prospects.
The party has also called on ministers to use the underspend from the apprenticeships levy to create an apprentice wage subsidy and boost opportunities.
A government spokesperson said: “There are skills shortages, holding people back from working in highly skilled jobs and stopping employers getting the workforce they need. That is why we have put transformation of skills, training and further education at the heart of our recovery plans and Skills Bill .
“As part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee we are offering almost 400 free courses to help more adults gain the skills they need to get great jobs in a wide range of sectors, including health and care. We plan to add further courses over time to ensure the list of courses continues to meet the needs of the economy.
“We are also creating opportunities for young people through our £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, expanding our traineeships and sector-based work academy programmers and supporting employers to offer more apprenticeships.”
