General Election: Labour have won a landslide victory. What does this mean for FE & Skills?
The Labour party has had a Landslide Victory in the General Election. The Labour Party needed to secure 326 seats in the General Election to win the majority and it is predicted they will have over 400 by the exit polls, giving a significant majority over the Conservatives.
The House of Commons consists of 650 seats or Members of Parliament (MPs). According to the General Election exit poll, the projected seat distribution will be as follows:
- Labour Party: 410 seats
- Conservative Party: 144 seats
- Liberal Democrats: 61 seats
- Reform UK: 13 seats
- Other parties and independents: The remaining seats
If these projections are accurate, Labour would secure a substantial majority of 170 seats in the House of Commons. While this is a significant margin, it falls short of the historic 179-seat majority achieved by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1997.
All Change
The Conservatives have been in power for 14 years. The Labour Party hasn’t won a general election since 2005, they last won a general election as the opposition party back in 1997 under Tony Blair. Which is a long time (eg in the 20th Century). So there will be significant changes in Government.
So there will changes in the characters in Parliament. Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has won his first ever seat in the Houses of Parliament. This is after eight times as running to be an MP and this is the first time he’s been successful. So fairplay, he is definitely keen to get into Parliament and will be a regular ‘face’ to anyone who is an ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ fan. Here is the Reform UK Contract and what this could mean for FE and Skills, after all of that trying to get into Parliament, we predict he has bigger plans in the future.
Previous Education Secretary Gillian Keegan lost her seat in Parliament to the Lib Dems. Gillian Keegan was appointed Education Secretary by Rishi Sunak in October 2022. She was the 10th Education Secretary since 2010, 6th since the 2019 election! Gillian previously was Skills Minister for apprenticeships and skills in 2020 – 2021 and was a former Apprentice. We wish her all the best in the future.
So we are already seeing significant changes in the landscape of parliament and new faces.
The What next for FE and Skills?
The strap line for the Labour Party during the election campaign was Change. On hearing the news that the Labour Party had won the election, the next Prime Minister, Keir Starmer says “change begins now”.
So we need to expect significant change in the coming weeks and months. What do know should be coming are the Labour promises and plans sketched out over the General Election period.
Skills England
We know that the Labour party pledged Skills England to oversee Post 16 skills delivery, but what will this look like in reality and how quickly will this be rolled out. Will this be as fast as next week?
In their election manifesto, the Labour party said: We will establish Skills England to bring together business, training providers and unions with national and local government to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver Labour’s Industrial Strategy.
Skills England will formally work with the Migration Advisory Committee to make sure training in England accounts for the overall needs of the labour market. And we are committed to devolving adult skills funding to Combined Authorities, empowering local leaders to have greater control of skills development in their areas, alongside a greater role in supporting people into work. Skills England will co-ordinate between local areas to ensure everyone can access all the opportunities available.
Lesley Giles recently wrote an article How Would A New National Skills Body Work in Practice? Which could provide a snap shot of what to expect from a new Skills Body.
FE Colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges
Labour also promised to transform Further Education colleges into specialist Technical Excellence Colleges. These colleges will work with businesses, trade unions, and local government to provide young people with better job opportunities and the highly trained workforce that local economies need.
Apprenticeship Levy will be replaced by the Flexible Growth and Skills Levy
Labour also pledged to replace the Apprenticeship Levy will be replaced by the Flexible Growth and Skills Levy.
Labour plans to overhaul the Apprenticeships Levy introduced by the Conservatives, which they view as flawed. The existing system’s strict regulations don’t account for crucial skills and training necessary for entering apprenticeship programs. In its place, Labour proposes to establish a more adaptable Growth and Skills Levy. Under this new system, a body called Skills England would review and approve eligible courses, ensuring that qualifications provide good value for the investment made.
Youth Guarantee
Currently, one in eight young people are NEET (not in education, employment, nor training). This issue particularly affects those with limited qualifications or mental health challenges. Labour proposes to address this by:
- Creating a youth guarantee program for all 18- to 21-year-olds. This will consolidate existing funding and entitlements to ensure access to:
- Training opportunities
- Apprenticeships
- Job search support
- Introducing a mandatory two-week work experience program for all young people.
- Enhancing careers guidance services in schools and colleges.
These measures aim to reduce the number of young people who are not engaged in learning or earning activities.
Careers Advice and Work Experience in Schools and Colleges
After the main manifesto pledges, Labour made a significant amendment on the 26th June 2024 (so under 10 days to go until the General Election) to promising more careers advice and work experience in Schools and Colleges as part of its plans to usher in a revolution in work readiness and drive opportunity for young people. Which is a brilliant amendment, but we are at the start of the 4th industrial revolution, how about an all age Careers advice and guidance service for everyone to navigate the correct courses and careers?
So change begins now. Let’s see what this means for Further Education, Skills and Employability.
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