HC Deb 10 March 2004 vol 418 cc440-8WH

11 am

Mr. Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater) (Con)

It is rare —and quite scary —to come into this place to find nobody here and no debate on. I thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me this debate on Bridgwater college. I do not doubt that a centre of excellence such as Bridgwater college is vital to a rural community. I am delighted to see my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Flook) here; he has the Somerset College of Arts and Technology in his constituency.

One can safely say that Somerset is one of the most rural counties in the country. There is only one industrial town: Bridgwater. If one casts one's mind back to those halcyon days, it was the most thriving port in the fifteenth century.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. John MON illiam)

Even I am not that old.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger

I knew that, but one or two of our colleagues may be. It is interesting to note that an industrial town in an area such as ours has bred an enormous differential between the rural heartland and the industrial heartland. It is probably fairly unusual for a Conservative Member of Parliament to represent an industrial town. There is a large amount of heavy industry, such as British Cellophane, Ambersil, Royal Ordnance, Gerber's and others. In the middle is Bridgwater college.

Bridgwater college trained people to become industrial apprentices, whom I know all hon. Members miss. It trains all sectors of the community from the youngest to the eldest. It is a further education college that does much more than A-levels. It has taken on the training of all Bridgwater's forklift drivers for the industrial conurbation, as well as much more to bring itself to the forefront of the community. It is exciting that it is setting up many outstations. We all know that universities would normally do that. Plymouth university—possibly the most aggressive university in the south-west—seems to be spreading its tentacles. However, so has Bridgwater college, and one of the reasons that I wanted to hold the debate is that it has shown itself time and again to be a centre of excellence. I know that the Minister appreciates that. We have seen its rise over the past five years. It has had 10 years under the leadership of Fiona McMillan and her team, and became one of the foremost further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

I shall not detain hon. Members too long, but it is worth considering the achievements of recent years: the Queen's anniversary prize for further education, beacon college status, two Government-designated early excellence centre awards, five beacon awards, and two centres of vocational excellence awards in automobile engineering and early years from the learning and skills council in Somerset. There has been phenomenal growth. There are over 3,500 full-time and part-time students at the college and its outstations at Cripton, Minehead and elsewhere. There has been an enormous outreach in learning and skills.

It is rare for an Opposition Member to praise the Government, but I shall give credit where it is due. Beacon status has undoubtedly pumped up the college. It has just opened its learndirect facility—my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton has been involved with that— and 190 people signed up within the first week. Learndirect has given people of all ages who do not naturally want to go into education a chance to do so. Two students who were a little older than the average student who I remember were delighted to be there, as they were achieving a life's ambition. Again, I give praise where it is due: the college has given people a real opportunity. Since 1994, the college has received £7.5 million of investment, and it has increased its outreach all over the place.

As the Minister is aware, Cannington college is an amalgamation of two colleges. Bridgwater's principal, Fiona McMillan, and her remarkable team have gone one step further. I would like to praise Fiona McMillan, who has just been awarded the OBE by Her Majesty for her work during 10 years of dedicated leadership. She has proved that the college is going places.

Ian Nash, the further education editor of The Times Educational Supplement, said: Of all the colleges who entered this category of Beacon Awards no other college came close to the marvellous achievements of Bridgwater College. The panel of judges who assessed Bridgwater's entry came away from the College with an impression of a place with an outstanding learning culture. We were particularly struck by the fact that the staff we interviewed saw no distinction between their personal development and professional development. That is one of the most profound statements that I have heard. The college is highly organised, with superb teaching staff. Lecturers have rung me in the past few days. We talked about various things that we wanted to put forward. They have said that they were offered the opportunity to move on to Exeter university, to SCAT or to wherever to lecture, but said no and wanted to stay at Bridgwater because it provides the excellence that they strive to achieve as professionals

I move on to some of the college's results. It is a further education college, which is meant to specialise in A-levels. However, it does not; it is one of six in the country to specialise across the entire spectrum. If I were to read out every course that it offers, I, the Minister and you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, would be bored by the time I got through them. Such is the quality of the place.

In the past year, the college has achieved a 99.5 per cent. pass rate for A-levels. The national average is 95.4 per cent. Thirty-one subjects covered by the college had a 100 per cent. pass rate. That is a remarkable achievement in anybody's book. It is also particularly pleasing that more than 74 per cent. of those grades were A to Cs. That is a remarkable achievement. So many people decry Bridgwater as the industrial town that people forget, yet we train the very best there. I am sure that the Minister will agree, and rightly, that that is what education is about.

I would like to mention other things that the inspectors said. If I am accused of blatantly banging the drum for Bridgwater college, I will plead guilty. I am incredibly proud of its achievements. In discussing achievements and standards, the inspectors said: The College achieves very good, pass rates on courses for students aged 16–18. In 2001, overall pass rates were 81 per cent., 80 per cent., and 84 per cent. The national averages were 66 per cent., 68 per cent. and 73 per cent. The college is way ahead; it is off the Richter scale. Is that not tremendous? I am delighted. The college has also achieved enormous results at GCSE and went way above what it thought it would achieve.

There is a matter that I would like to ask the Minister to think about. Bridgwater college is in an industrial area, but there is a large rural area around it. A problem that we have concerns transport and getting students to the college. I know students who come from my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton's constituency and that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory), who cannot be here because of other parliamentary duties. That involves a cost. I hope that the Government will continue to consider whether such students should bear that cost.

Another problem concerns the scale of getting young people to college. My hon. Friend the Member for Taunton and I represent constituencies in west Somerset, which has the largest district council in the country, but with the smallest budget. Its huge area includes Exmoor. If one asks a student from Dulverton in my hon. Friend's constituency or Minehead in my constituency whether they can get either to SCAT or to Bridgwater college, they will say that it is very difficult to do so. The bus service is not regular enough, so one has to have a car, borrow one or get a lift from somebody. One of the greatest problems that we have had is in trying to ensure that we can get those students to where they need to be.

As I said earlier, Bridgwater college has set up an outplacement in Minehead. Unfortunately, it has not yet done so in Dulverton, although I am sure that my hon. Friend would welcome that if it were done in conjunction with SCAT, to try to bring more students into the centre. I hope that the Minister will agree that it is not fair that a person who cannot physically get to college should be penalised for that.

I want to talk a bit about the leadership and management of the college. I will read this quite blatantly from the inspector's report. First: Leadership and Management are outstanding". Secondly, The college has.… excellent links. Local community groups, employers, public services and local schools regard the College as highly responsive. Yes, of course we are. In addition: Management information in the college is good and staff have a high level of confidence in the reports that they produce. That is wonderful. If one believes in what one is doing, one will believe that one can do it. That is vital.

In the remaining five minutes, I want to turn to the meat of the issue—the merger between Bridgwater and Cannington colleges. Cannington is our agricultural college, which serves the whole country and has been a centre of excellence for 75 years. Over the past few years, things have not been as rosy as they could have been. Due to various situations, which I do not intend to discuss now, the college needs help. I pay enormous tribute to Dugald Sandeman and his team at the Somerset learning and skills council, which is based in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton, for the cool-headed way in which they have dealt with the situation, and to the Minister and his team for the kindness that they have shown in ensuring that Cannington continues to be an outstanding college.

One of our problems is that decisions need to be made. The corporation of Cannington — I am glad to say that that is of the old-fashioned type —and the governors of Bridgwater college will amalgamate the colleges under the guidance of Bridgwater college, Fiona McMillan and her team. Soon, there will be an application to the Secretary of State. It will sit on his desk, it will be from the two groups and it will ask for financial assistance. They will need that for three reasons. First, as my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton is aware, Cannington college does not have the most modern campus. Secondly, the colleges are in the rural heartland, which is involved in farming, which in modern terms is not the most sexy of trades. Thirdly, and most important, they serve our whole county. When that application comes, I would ask the Minister and the Secretary of State to look at it favourably. It will come via the learning and skills council and it will have a financial attachment. I do not know what the total will be, although I can guess.

Mr. Adrian Flook (Taunton) (Con)

My hon. Friend makes an eloquent case about the need for Cannington and Bridgwater colleges to merge. For the record, it is worth pointing out that I have a number of constituents who look to both of those colleges for their education. It is vital that the skills that they bring to their areas are allowed to continue. If the best way to do that is to merge them, they have my full support.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger

I thank my hon. Friend. I know that he has done outstanding work on this issue and I am grateful for all the help that he has given to the learning and skills council and to both the colleges.

The Minister asked me how many people do not want the merger to go ahead. The proposed merger was put out to public consultation and 27 organisations said that they were for it. Only one organisation said that it was not over-happy. However, it has been unanimously agreed that it is an excellent way forward.

I urge the Minister on three issues. First, please do not let Cannington have any problems. Let us get this matter passed and moving, and let us ensure that it is a great success. Secondly, to enable that, Bridgwater college needs all the help the Minister can give, because its finances are being sucked into its own development programme. It has very little that it can give. Thirdly, and perhaps most important, the young people of our area have many problems with its sheer scale, which we cannot get around easily.

Horticulture, tourism, agriculture and food production —for example of high-quality jams —are subjects that are taught at Cannington. If they are not there, they will be sadly missed. I urge the Minister and the Secretary of State to look at the application favourably when it lands on their desks in a few months' time, because it has the backing of the community, the county and the best beacon college in the country. If we do not get the merger right, all the work that has been done up to now through co-operation between Sedgemoor district council, MPs, district councillors, county councillors and many others will be for nought. I make my appeal to the Minister on behalf of Bridgwater college and Cannington college.

In conclusion, I say that Bridgwater college is a centre of excellence, and I praise the Government for that. However, there is still a long way to go, and we need ministerial help to bring it up to the best possible standard that we can offer our young people.

11.15am

The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Alan Johnson):

I congratulate the hon. Member for Bridgwater (Mr. Liddell-Grainger) on securing the debate. I am pleased that the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Flook) is also present to hear my response. I associate myself with the positive remarks made about the excellent work of Bridgwater college. It is worth repeating some of the comments that were made, because they are not hyperbole. When we have an example such as Bridgwater college, we should sing its praises and record the fact that we have done so. Too often in the House, we deal with the problem areas and sometimes the centres of excellence, as the hon. Member for Bridgwater called the college, do not get the recognition that they deserve.

In this short debate, I want to ensure that it is understood how important the work of Bridgwater college is in raising standards throughout the sector. The hon. Member for Bridgwater mentioned Bridgwater college's most recent Ofsted inspection, which described the college as outstanding; it is one of the top colleges in the country. I join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to the teachers, governors, other staff and pupils at the college for their achievements.

However, I want to pay special tribute to the principal, Fiona McMillan, whose outstanding leadership and management qualities have played such a large part in the college's success. In November 2002, we developed the success for all strategy for taking the further education sector forward, which stressed the importance of leadership qualities. In my Department, we see again and again the importance of leadership in transforming the education provided—we should not forget that the FE sector caters directly for 4 million adult learners and young learners, and for another 2 million learners in workplaces. Fiona McMillan is a sparkling example of the kind of qualities that FE college principals need which is why I am pleased to pay particular tribute to her.

The Ofsted report makes reference to outstanding leadership and management. It also recognises the college's excellent quality assurance systems and procedures, and its success in widening participation. It also comments on the outstanding support given to students who, as a result, are highly motivated. That is no doubt a good part of the reason for the success rates mentioned by the hon. Member for Bridgwater. The Ofsted report also mentioned the college's outstanding accommodation, and commended the outstanding specialist resources in some of its curriculum areas. It should be noted that Ofsted's use of the word "outstanding" is outstanding in itself—it is not a word that trips off Ofsted's tongue.

There is clearly much to pay tribute to in Bridgwater college—it is no stranger to national recognition. Recently, as the hon. Member for Bridgwater mentioned, Bridgwater college has achieved a remarkable record of success, not least in the number of awards and prizes that it has gained. The college is the "Lord of the Rings" of the FE sector in terms of picking up prizes. I shall mention the awards again, because I believe that the college's situation is unique. It has received a Queen's anniversary prize for higher and further education. It is worth mentioning in that context that 11 per cent. of higher education is carried out in FE colleges, and that 40 per cent. of those going into higher education come from FE—the FE sector is central to the whole higher education agenda.

The college has not one but three beacon awards for inclusive learning, college-schools partnerships and meeting employers' needs. The Government have given it beacon college status. It has also been designated an early excellence centre by the Government. The college has two centres of vocational excellence, one in early years education and the other in motor vehicles. That is a startling record. The list of awards reflects a college that is committed to providing the best possible service to students, employers and the local community.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of further education. It provides diverse opportunities for more than 6 million learners and thousands of businesses. Every community in the country is affected by the further education agenda. I wish briefly to outline the national context in which Bridgwater college operates before referring to some of the specific points mentioned by the hon. Gentleman.

During the coming years, further education colleges will continue to play a vital role in taking forward the Government's strategies for higher education, skills and the exciting 14-to-19 years agenda that is being developed by the Tomlinson committee. The world of further education is developing fast. The high expectations of learners, employers, the community and, indeed, the Government are placing many demands on colleges. As I take the Higher Education Bill through Committee, people say to me that we need plumbers, not graduates. We need plumbers and graduates.

The focus on further education has never been more profound than it is at present. In the Government's success for all reform strategy, we stated our ambition of delivering world-class teaching and learning for all. We want to spread the Bridgwater college example throughout the country. We want Bridgwater colleges and high standards in each community.

It is important that we celebrate and build on such provision if we are to deliver a high-quality learning and skills sector that provides opportunity and choice for individuals, communities and employers throughout the country. Bridgwater college received funding from the Learning and Skills Council to disseminate its good practice as a beacon college during 2003. That is the whole point of beacon colleges. Bridgwater is one of the few general FE colleges that have beacon status.

Beacons are awarded to sixth-form colleges and to work-based learning providers. A beacon is not just a plaque to stick on the wall to celebrate, important though that is. It means work for Bridgwater college, which is why we are grateful to it. Part of being a beacon college is to spread best practice throughout the country and to be a mentor for other colleges. It is hard work.

It is tough—Fiona and others at Bridgwater college will testify to that. They are keen to undertake such work. Their passion and enthusiasm are commendable.

The clear sense of pride felt by the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Taunton about Bridgwater college is tangible and completely understandable. I want all learners to succeed and all institutions to have the skills, resources and support to make that happen. The college is currently funded by my Department to take forward beacon innovation activity in developing curriculum specialisms and skills for life, which relates to the point that the hon. Member for Bridgwater made about learndirect. A total of £200,000 was made available for 2003–05.

The Government's aim is to give all learners access to high-quality learning experiences. We have shown our commitment to further education. The last spending review included a 19 per cent. real terms increase in funding for further education. Assumed funding for further education allocated to the Learning and Skills Council is £4.7 billion in this financial year. It will rise to £5.2 billion in the next financial year and to £5.6 billion in the financial year after that. We are providing additional resources and working with teachers to raise standards across the board.

The Government are committed to working in partnership with the further education sector to deliver our objective of a reformed learning and skills sector, so that in Bridgwater and throughout the country young people have greater choice and have higher standards with clear pathways to higher education. Older students will receive more help to improve crucial skills and progress in their careers and local employers can use a responsive network of colleges and training providers that are committed to delivering the skills that they need.

One of the problems that has dogged further education for a long time—as well as the strange and curious prejudice in this country for academic qualifications over vocational qualifications—is that employers have never felt engaged with the further education curriculum. Their complaint is that educationists churn out the kind of courses that they think employers want without taking the trouble to consult them. An important part of the programme is to change that approach.

Bridgwater college has already recognised that that will require determined action and commitment. It scores on all the points I have mentioned in relation to the Government's priorities. I commend Bridgwater college for its outstanding achievements. I place on record my thanks to the staff, students and governors. I have already mentioned the principal.

The hon. Member for Bridgwater spoke about transport, which is a real issue, particularly in rural areas, and in some urban areas. The mobility of youngsters and older students to access further education, sixth-form and other tertiary colleges is important. An aspect of that is built into learning and skills planning and we will continue to develop it.

The central question asked by the hon. Gentleman was on the proposed merger of Bridgwater with Cannington. The role of the Secretary of State is to give his approval to a merger at the end of that process. I cannot pre-empt that decision. However, it will be based on whether clear educational and financial benefits will arise from the proposal.

The funding aspect of the proposal, which the hon. Gentleman mentioned, is in the hands of the Learning and Skills Council, which must ensure that there is the right financial basis for merger. Indeed, it holds the purse strings in that respect. Once the Learning and Skills Council is satisfied with that—and only when it is satisfied—the recommendation comes to the Secretary of State. It is inconceivable and impossible for a recommendation to come to the Secretary of State without the backing of the Learning and Skills Council. When that has been provided, the financial imperative and the financial problems must have been resolved. Then the Secretary of State makes the final decision.

I cannot give the reassurance for which the hon. Gentleman was asking, for reasons that he will understand, but I assure him that, if that proposal comes to the Secretary of State, it will be dealt with speedily and on the basis of the financial and educational benefits in accordance with the Learning and Skills Act 2000. Given everything that he said, once a proposal comes here, those issues will have been sorted out satisfactorily at local level.

I look forward to the ongoing contribution that all those involved with that splendid college will make in achieving the Government's ambitious plans for the post-16 education sector. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman again on securing the debate and, for about the 25th time, I sincerely congratulate Bridgwater college. It is an outstanding example of all that is good about further education. I am pleased to join in this short celebration of its success.

11.29 am

Sitting suspended until Two o'clock