Leading think tank, The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), today
welcomed the announcement that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
will invest 500m in early years support.
Gavin Rice, Head of the CSJ’s Work and Welfare Policy unit, said:
"Stronger families are at the heart of a stronger society, and
it's fantastic to see the Chancellor investing £500 million in 75
new family hubs. Family hubs, a policy idea pioneered by the
Centre for Social Justice, will provide vital support, direction
and a one-stop-shop for new families as we recover from the
pandemic."
The CSJ played a key role, in partnership with the Fabian
Society, providing the secretariat for the Early
Years Commission, whose work has informed the new
policy.
Over nine months, the Early Years Commission heard from
organisations and individuals committed to giving every
child the best start in life and pushing for a change in
early years policy.
Find out more about The Early Years Commission
here, https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/library/early-years-manifesto
PA article by Geraldine Scott
Some £3 billion of investment into education set to be announced
in the Budget will give people “the skills they need to earn more
and get on in life”, the Chancellor has said.
is expected to give a cash
injection to both post-16 education but also to adults later in
life.
Mr Sunak will announce the number of skills boot camps in areas
such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and nuclear will
be quadrupled.
While £1.6 billion will provide up to 100,000 16- to 19-year-olds
studying for T-levels, technical-based qualifications, with
additional classroom hours.
The package is expected to be part of measures announced at next
week’s Budget and spending review.
Mr Sunak said: “Our future economic success depends not just on
the education we give to our children but the lifelong learning
we offer to adults.
“This £3 billion skills revolution builds on our plan for jobs
and will spread opportunity across the UK by transforming post-16
education, giving people the skills they need to earn more and
get on in life.”
Education Secretary added: “We are supporting
people to gain the skills they need to secure great jobs.
“Our skills reforms and this additional investment will support
more people to continue to upskill and retrain throughout their
lives and open the door to careers in high-skilled industries.”
Existing colleges in England are to be allocated £830 million
with extra funding for new equipment and facilities.
The National Skills Fund will be boosted with a total investment
of £550 million to quadruple the number of places on the skills
boot camps, which are available for adults of any age.
Mr Sunak will also announce the expansion of free Level 3 courses
for adults, which are equivalent to A-levels, in subjects like
maths, chemistry and biology.
Apprenticeship funding will also increase by £170 million to £2.7
billion in 2024/25.
Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders’ union
NAHT, said: “This money is welcome and post-16 training and
skills for employment is important. But the learning and
experiences children and young people have had earlier in their
lives, to help them get to that point, is also important.
“We need to see investment from Treasury next week into education
the whole way through, right from the vital early years.”
Geoff Barton general secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, added: “We welcome any investment in education
but this pledge is sketchy and appears to be limited in scope.
“Post-16 education has been woefully underfunded by the
Government for many years and while T-levels will work well for
some students, they are untried and untested.
“We therefore also need to see more funding for the hundreds of
thousands of young people who do A-levels, BTECs and other
long-established qualifications. More investment is also needed
in schools, early years and in education recovery following the
Covid pandemic.”
