Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins has urged the government to introduce compulsory work experience and face-to-face careers guidance, alongside strengthening local democracy in drawing up skills plans, as part of the final stages of the Skills Bill.

In his role as Further Education and Skills Minister, Toby submitted five amendments to improve the Bill:

• An amendment to require IFATE to perform a review of the operation of the apprenticeship levy (debated only)
• An amendment to require face to face careers guidance for every pupil and two weeks’ worth of compulsory work experience (voted on)
• An amendment to ensure Mayoral Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and local authorities are part of drawing up Local Skills Improvement Plans alongside Employer Representative Bodies (voted on)
• An amendment to establish a 4 year moratorium on Level 3 qualifications including BTECs (debated only)
• An amendment to ensure Employer Representative Bodies have a requirement to have strategies for people with special educational needs and disabilities (debated only)

Sadly, the Conservatives voted against Toby’s main amendments on careers guidance and work experience and local democratic accountability.

In his speech, Toby said “For so many people who leave our statutory educational providers disillusioned and uninspired by education, FE has been life-changing. In my family, it was learning in FE that changed my son’s life and career opportunities; the same thing happened 20 years before for my sister, and I know it has happened for so many other people in all our constituencies.

Yet the Government’s approach to this sector has been to inflict eye-watering cuts on it while continually repeating the same lament about employers not being in charge”.

He concluded “This Bill remains a huge missed opportunity that will not offer the reform needed for our country to tackle the very real skills shortages that blight our local economies and damage the life chances of individuals across our communities”.