We need a long-term investment plan to bring colleges back to health, says AoC

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said: “This very timely report from the IFS ahead of next week’s budget tells us what we have known for the last decade and more: that colleges have had to bear more than their fair share of the last government’s austerity cuts. Because of that, it was often difficult to persuade education ministers in the last Conservative government that significant new investment was needed.

"With a new government, without that baggage, we now want Treasury to recognise that a long-term investment plan is needed to bring colleges back to health. That plan needs to start as soon as possible, because colleges are now facing yet another year of struggling to recruit new staff, to retain existing staff and to maintain buildings, equipment and IT.

“That’s why I agree that now is the time for an honest, open and urgent review of FE funding, ahead of the spring spending review. This matters because there is rising demand from a growing cohort of young people and an enormous need for more adults to get the skills they must have to deliver on economic growth, net zero, NHS, housing targets and opportunities for all.

"Earlier this month, 172 college leaders wrote to Rachel Reeves with three modest and realistic asks: for funding for teacher pay, funding for the growing numbers of students, and reimbursement of VAT to save colleges £210 million a year.

“Those asks are urgent and the minimum needed to start to turn the tide of underinvestment in colleges. We recognise the tight fiscal environment the government is operating in, but colleges offer high returns on investment, with a skilled workforce a necessary platform on which to build the strong and inclusive economy the Prime Minister says he wants.

"I hope that this report, and the others published in recent months echoing it, are taken seriously by the Chancellor, and that next week’s budget, and the subsequent spending review deliver what the sector needs.”