Young people in Chesterfield will see major upgrades to Chesterfield College, as Labour provides £1,368,630 to the college for building improvements.
Across the country, colleges have been underfunded for years, leading to leaky roofs, broken windows, and dated heating systems. Labour is changing that and investing £307 million in 175 colleges nationally.
The fund has been boosted by £5 million since last year, when the Government introduced it in response to colleges calling for a reliable annual allocation to plan and maintain their estates. It is part of a £1.7 billion investment from Labour’s Industrial Strategy for colleges to modernise buildings by 2030.
Locally, Chesterfield College will be given the flexibility to decide how its funding allocation of over £1.3 million is spent, so it can be directed where it is needed most.
These upgrades will restore pride in Chesterfield’s further education setting and break down barriers to opportunity for students, with fewer disruptions to lessons, more comfortable learning environments, and better spaces for students to focus and succeed. Modernised colleges will be key to delivering on Labour’s target for two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25.
Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said: “The young people in these colleges are the engineers, bricklayers and designers of the future, and they and the dedicated staff teaching them deserve the best possible environment to learn and succeed. This £307 million investment will repair and modernise facilities across all 175 colleges in England, giving young people the spaces they need to build the skills necessary for good careers, helping to drive economic growth.”
MP for Chesterfield, Toby Perkins said: “I’m delighted to have worked with the Labour government to secure vital investment for Chesterfield College – the heart of further education in Chesterfield. I’ve long been an advocate for apprenticeships, and this funding supports the ambitious target we have set, for two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship or heading to university by the age of 25, with ambitious action.”
It follows Labour’s announcement of £570 million to increase capacity in colleges to train the next generation of skilled workers.
More widely, Labour’s ambitious Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper set out plans to unlock opportunity for young people and drive growth for the country by improving the quality of further education. This includes the introduction of structured professional development for further education teachers and an expectation that colleges deliver at least 100 hours of face to-face English and maths teaching for those who haven’t passed those GCSEs.
Labour also announced the creation of V levels as a brand new vocational pathway to provide clearer, stronger options for young people, allowing them to mix and match academic and vocational subjects and setting them up for the jobs of tomorrow.